arXiv subjects

Paolo Politi

Publications and source records attributed to Paolo Politi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Mean-field theory of the DNLS equation at positive and negative absolute temperatures

The Discrete Non Linear Schr\"odinger (DNLS) model, due to the existence of two conserved quantities, displays an equilibrium transition between a homogeneous phase at positive absolute temperature and a localized phase at negative absolute temperature. Here, we provide a mean-field theory of DNLS through a suitable approximation of the grandcanonical partition function which makes it factorizable and can be used to describe the equilibrium state at positive temperatures as well as the metastable state at negative temperatures. By comparing our mean-field results with numerically exact ones, we show that this approximation is good-to-excellent in the whole grandcanonical phase diagram. Explicit approximate expressions for equilibrium observables are provided in the high-temperature limit. Our theory represents a clear advancement over the model that neglects the interaction between sites.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Coarsening kinetics in spin systems with long-range interactions: from voter to Ising

In this paper, we start reviewing the main features of the one-dimensional Ising model with long-range interactions, where the spin-spin coupling decays as a power law, $J(r) \propto r^{-\alpha}$. We then discuss the key properties of the one-dimensional voter model, in which two agents (spins) at distance $r$ interact with a power-law probability with the same form of $J(r)$. The two models are compared, and the so-called $p$-voter model is presented, which provides a framework to interpolate between them. Specifically, the $p$-voter model reduces to the voter model for $p = 1$ and $p = 2$, while for $p \ge 3$ it falls into the universality class of the Ising model.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Infinite-temperature thermostats by energy localization in a nonequilibrium setup

Some lattice models having two conservation laws may display an equilibrium phase transition from a homogeneous (positive temperature - PT) to a condensed (negative temperature) phase, where a finite fraction of the energy is localized in a few sites. We study one such stochastic model in an out-of-equilibrium setup, where the ends of the lattice chain are attached to two PT baths. We show that localized peaks may spontaneously emerge, acting as infinite-temperature heat baths. The number $N_b$ of peaks is expected to grow in time $t$ as $N_b \sim \sqrt{\ln t}$, as a consequence of an effective freezing of the dynamics. Asymptotically, the chain spontaneously subdivides into three intervals: the two external ones lying inside the PT region; the middle one characterized by peaks superposed to a background lying along the infinite-temperature line. In the thermodynamic limit, the Onsager formalism allows determining the shape of the whole profile.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

The birth of StatPhys: The 1949 Florence conference at the juncture of national and international physics reconstruction after World War II

In spring 1949 about 70 physicists from eight countries met in Florence to discuss recent trends in statistical mechanics. This scientific gathering, co-organized by the Commission on Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and the Italian Physical Society (SIF), initiated a tradition of IUPAP-sponsored international conferences on statistical mechanics that lasts to this day. In 1977, when this conference series took the name of StatPhys, the foundational role of the Florence conference was recognized by retrospectively naming it StatPhys1. This paper examines the dual scientific and social significance of the conference, situating it in the broader contexts of the post-World War II reconstruction in Italian physics and of the revitalization of the international science organization. Through an analysis of IUPAP archives and Italian records, we illustrate how the event's success hinged on the aligned objectives of its organizers. Internationally, it was instrumental in defining the scientific and organizational foundations for the activities of IUPAP commissions during a critical phase of IUPAP's history, when the Union was resurging on the international scene after the inactivity of the interwar period. Nationally, the conference served as a cornerstone in SIF's strategy to re-establish Italian physics' international stature and to aid the domestic revitalization of physics through the internationalization of its activities, notably of its flagship journal, \textit{Il Nuovo Cimento}. This analysis not only sheds light on the conference's impact but also informs recent discussions in the history of science about the multiple roles of international scientific conferences.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2024

Localization in boundary-driven lattice models

Several systems display an equilibrium condensation transition, where a finite fraction of a conserved quantity is spatially localized. The presence of two conservation laws may induce the emergence of such transition in an out-of-equilibrium setup, where boundaries are attached to different and subcritical heat baths. We study this phenomenon in a class of stochastic lattice models, where the local energy is a general convex function of the local mass, mass and energy being both globally conserved in the isolated system. We obtain exact results for the nonequilibrium steady state (spatial profiles, mass and energy currents, Onsager coefficients) and we highlight important differences between equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium condensation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Lattice models of random advection and diffusion and their statistics

We study in detail a one-dimensional lattice model of a continuum, conserved field (mass) that is transferred deterministically between neighbouring random sites. The model falls in a wider class of lattice models capturing the joint effect of random advection and diffusion and encompassing as specific cases, some models studied in the literature, like the Kang-Redner, Kipnis-Marchioro-Presutti, Takayasu-Taguchi, etc. The motivation for our setup comes from a straightforward interpretation as advection of particles in one-dimensional turbulence, but it is also related to a problem of synchronization of dynamical systems driven by common noise. For finite lattices, we study both the coalescence of an initially spread field (interpreted as roughening), and the statistical steady-state properties. We distinguish two main size-dependent regimes, depending on the strength of the diffusion term and on the lattice size. Using numerical simulations and mean-field approach, we study the statistics of the field. For weak diffusion, we unveil a characteristic hierarchical structure of the field. We also connect the model and the iterated function systems concept.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Onsager coefficients in a coupled-transport model displaying a condensation transition

We study nonequilibrium steady states of a one-dimensional stochastic model, originally introduced as an approximation of the Discrete Nonlinear Schrödinger equation. This model is characterized by two conserved quantities, namely mass and energy; it displays a ``normal", homogeneous phase, separated by a condensed (negative-temperature) phase, where a macroscopic fraction of energy is localized on a single lattice site. When steadily maintained out of equilibrium by external reservoirs, the system exhibits coupled transport herein studied within the framework of linear response theory. We find that the Onsager coefficients satisfy an exact scaling relationship, which allows reducing their dependence on the thermodynamic variables to that on the energy density for unitary mass density. We also determine the structure of the nonequilibrium steady states in proximity of the critical line, proving the existence of paths which partially enter the condensed region. This phenomenon is a consequence of the Joule effect: the temperature increase induced by the mass current is so strong as to drive the system to negative temperatures. Finally, since the model attains a diverging temperature at finite energy, in such a limit the energy-mass conversion efficiency reaches the ideal Carnot value.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Domain statistics in the relaxation of the one-dimensional Ising model with strong long-range interactions

After a zero temperature quench, we study the kinetics of the one-dimensional Ising model with long-range interactions between spins at distance $r$ decaying as $r^{-α}$, with $α\le 1$. As shown in our recent study [SciPost Phys 10, 109 (2021)] that only a fraction of the non-equilibrium trajectories is characterized by the presence of coarsening domains while in the remaining ones the system is quickly driven towards a magnetised state. Restricting to realisations displaying coarsening we compute numerically the probability distribution of the size of the domains and find that it exhibits a scaling behaviour with an unusual $α$-dependent power-law decay. This peculiar behaviour is also related to the divergence of the average size of domains with system size at finite times. Such a scenario differs from the one observed when $α>1$, where the distribution decays exponentially. Finally, based on numerical results and on analytical calculations we argue that the average domain size grows asymptotically linearly in time.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Relaxation dynamics and finite-size effects in a simple model of condensation

We consider a simple, purely stochastic model characterized by two conserved quantities (mass density $a$ and energy density $h$) which is known to display a condensation transition when $h > 2a^2$: in the localized phase a single site hosts a finite fraction of the whole energy. Its equilibrium properties in the thermodynamic limit are known and in a recent paper (Gabriele Gotti, Stefano Iubini, Paolo Politi, Phys. Rev. E 103, 052133 (2021)) we studied the transition for finite systems. Here we analyze finite-size effects on the energy distribution and on the relaxation dynamics, showing that extremely large systems should be studied in order to observe the asymptotic distribution and even larger systems should be simulated in order to observe the expected relaxation dynamics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Condensation induced by coupled transport processes

Several lattice models display a condensation transition in real space when the density of a suitable order parameter exceeds a critical value. We consider one of such models with two conservation laws, in a one-dimensional open setup where the system is attached to two external reservoirs. Both reservoirs impose subcritical boundary conditions at the chain ends. When such boundary conditions are equal, the system is in equilibrium below the condensation threshold and no condensate can appear. Instead, when the system is kept out of equilibrium, localization may arise in an internal portion of the lattice. We discuss the origin of this phenomenon, the relevance of the number of conservation laws, and the effect of the pinning of the condensate on the dynamics of the out-of-equilibrium state.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Frozen dynamics of a breather induced by an adiabatic invariant

The Discrete Nonlinear Schrödinger (DNLS) equation is a Hamiltonian model displaying an extremely slow relaxation process when discrete breathers appear in the system. In [Iubini S, Chirondojan L, Oppo G L, Politi A and Politi P 2019 Physical Review Letters 122 084102], it was conjectured that the frozen dynamics of tall breathers is due to the existence of an adiabatic invariant (AI). Here, we prove the conjecture in the simplified context of a unidirectional DNLS equation, where the breather is "forced" by a background unaffected by the breather itself. We first clarify that the nonlinearity of the breather dynamics and the deterministic nature of the forcing term are both necessary ingredients for the existence of a frozen dynamics. We then derive perturbative expressions of the AI by implementing a canonical perturbation theory and via a more phenomenological approach based on the estimate of the energy flux. The resulting accurate identification of the AI allows revealing the presence and role of sudden jumps as the main breather destabilization mechanism, with an unexpected similarity with Lévy processes.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Some considerations about reviewing and open-access in scientific publishing

Scientific research changed profoundly over the last 30 years, in all its aspects. Scientific publishing has changed as well, mainly because of the strong increased number of submitted papers and because of the appearance of Open Access journals and publishers. We propose some reflections on these issues.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2021

Coexistence of coarsening and mean field relaxation in the long-range Ising chain

We study the kinetics after a low temperature quench of the one-dimensional Ising model with long range interactions between spins at distance $r$ decaying as $r^{-α}$. For $α=0$, i.e. mean field, all spins evolve coherently quickly driving the system towards a magnetised state. In the weak long range regime with $α>1$ there is a coarsening behaviour with competing domains of opposite sign without development of magnetisation. For strong long range, i.e. $0<α<1$, we show that the system shows both features, with probability $P_α(N)$ of having the latter one, with the different limiting behaviours $\lim _{N\to \infty}P_α(N)=0$ (at fixed $α<1$) and $\lim _{α\to 1}P_α(N)=1$ (at fixed finite $N$). We discuss how this behaviour is a manifestation of an underlying dynamical scaling symmetry due to the presence of a single characteristic time $τ_α(N)\sim N^α$.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Finite-size localization scenarios in condensation transitions

We consider the phenomenon of condensation of a globally conserved quantity $H=\sum_{i=1}^N ε_i$ distributed on $N$ sites, occurring when the density $h= H/N$ exceeds a critical density $h_c$. We numerically study the dependence of the participation ratio $Y_2=\langle ε_i^2\rangle/(Nh^2)$ on the size $N$ of the system and on the control parameter $δ= (h-h_c)$, for various models: (i)~a model with two conservation laws, derived from the Discrete NonLinear Schrödinger equation; (ii)~the continuous version of the Zero Range Process class, for different forms of the function $f(ε)$ defining the factorized steady state. Our results show that various localization scenarios may appear for finite $N$ and close to the transition point. These scenarios are characterized by the presence or the absence of a minimum of $Y_2$ when plotted against $N$ and by an exponent $γ\geq 2$ defined through the relation $N^* \simeq δ^{-γ}$, where $N^*$ separates the delocalized region ($N\ll N^*$, $Y_2$ vanishes with increasing $N$) from the localized region ($N\gg N^*$, $Y_2$ is approximately constant). We finally compare our results with the structure of the condensate obtained through the single-site marginal distribution.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Kinetics of the Two-dimensional Long-range Ising Model at Low Temperatures

We study the low-temperature domain growth kinetics of the two-dimensional Ising model with long-range coupling: $J(r) \sim r^{-(d+σ)}$, where $d=2$ is the dimensionality. According to the Bray-Rutenberg predictions, the exponent $σ$ controls the algebraic growth in time of the characteristic domain size $L(t)$, $L(t) \sim t^{1/z}$, with growth exponent $z=1+σ$ for $σ<1$ and $z=2$ for $σ>1$. These results hold for quenches to a non-zero temperature $T>0$ below the critical temperature $T_c$. We show that, in the case of quenches to $T=0$, due to the long-range interactions, the interfaces experience a drift which makes the dynamics of the system peculiar. More precisely we find that in this case the growth exponent takes the value $z=4/3$, independent of $σ$, showing that it is a universal quantity. We support our claim by means of extended Monte Carlo simulations and analytical arguments for simplified models.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Quasi-deterministic dynamics, memory effects, and lack of self-averaging in the relaxation of quenched ferromagnets

We discuss the interplay between the degree of dynamical stochasticity, memory persistence and violation of the self-averaging property in the aging kinetics of quenched ferromagnets. We show that, in general, the longest possible memory effects, which correspond to the slowest possible temporal decay of the correlation function, are accompanied by the largest possible violation of self-averaging and a quasi-deterministic descent into the ergodic components. This phenomenon is observed in different systems, such as the Ising model with long-range interactions, including mean-field, and the short-range random field Ising model.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Nonequilibrium phenomena in nonlinear lattices: from slow relaxation to anomalous transport

This Chapter contains an overview of the effects of nonlinear interactions in selected problems of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Most of the emphasis is put on open setups, where energy is exchanged with the environment. With reference to a few models of classical coupled anharmonic oscillators, we review anomalous but general properties such as extremely slow relaxation processes, or non-Fourier heat transport.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2019

Universality in the time correlations of the long-range 1d Ising model

The equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties of ferromagnetic systems may be affected by the long-range nature of the coupling interaction. Here we study the phase separation process of a one-dimensional Ising model in the presence of a power-law decaying coupling, $J(r)=1/r^{1+σ}$ with $σ>0$, and we focus on the two-time autocorrelation function $C(t,t_w)=\langle s_i(t) s_i(t_w)\rangle$. We find that it obeys the scaling form $C(t,t_w)=f(L(t_w)/L(t))$, where $L(t)$ is the typical domain size at time $t$, and where $f(x)$ can only be of two types. For $σ>1$, when domain walls diffuse freely, $f(x)$ falls in the nearest-neighbour (nn) universality class. Conversely, for $σ\le 1$, when domain walls dynamics is driven, $f(x)$ displays a new universal behavior. In particular, the so-called Fisher-Huse exponent, which characterizes the asymptotic behavior of $f(x)\simeq x^{-λ}$ for $x\gg 1$, is $λ=1$ in the nn universality class ($σ> 1$) and $λ=1/2$ for $σ\le 1$.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗