arXiv subjects

Roberto Livi

Publications and source records attributed to Roberto Livi.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Equilibrium time-correlation functions of the long-range interacting Fermi-Pasta-Ulam model

We present a numerical study of dynamical correlations (structure factors) of the long-range generalization of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam oscillator chain, where the strength of the interaction between two lattice sites decays as a power $α$ of the inverse of their distance. The structure factors at finite energy density display distinct peaks, corresponding to long-wavelength propagating modes, whose dispersion relation is compatible with the predictions of the linear theory. We demonstrate that dynamical scaling holds, with a dynamical exponent $z$ that depends weakly on $α$ in the range $1<α<3$. The lineshapes have a non-trivial functional form and appear somehow independent of $α$. Within the accessible time and size ranges, we also find that the short-range limit is hardly attained even for relatively large values of $α$.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Resilience for stochastic systems interacting via a quasi-degenerate network

A stochastic reaction-diffusion model is studied on a networked support. In each patch of the network two species are assumed to interact following a non-normal reaction scheme. When the interaction unit is replicated on a directed linear lattice, noise gets amplified via a self-consistent process which we trace back to the degenerate spectrum of the embedding support. The same phenomenon holds when the system is bound to explore a quasi degenerate network. In this case, the eigenvalues of the Laplacian operator, which governs species diffusion, accumulate over a limited portion of the complex plane. The larger the network, the more pronounced the amplification. Beyond a critical network size, a system deemed deterministically stable, hence resilient, may turn unstable, yielding seemingly regular patterns in the concentration amount. Non-normality and quasi-degenerate networks may therefore amplify the inherent stochasticity, and so contribute to altering the perception of resilience, as quantified via conventional deterministic methods.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2018

Transport in perturbed classical integrable systems: the pinned Toda chain

Nonequilibrium and thermal transport properties of the Toda chain, a prototype of classically integrable system, subject to additional (nonintegrable) terms are considered. In particular, we study via equilibrium and nonequilibrium simulations, the Toda lattice with a power-law pinning potential, recently analyzed by Lebowitz and Scaramazza [ArXiv:1801.07153]. We show that, according to general expectations, even the case with quadratic pinning is genuinely non-integrable, as demonstrated by computing the Lyapunov exponents, and displays normal (diffusive) conductivity for very long chains. However, the model has unexpected dynamical features and displays strong finite-size effects and slow decay of correlations to be traced back to the propagation of soliton-like excitations, weakly affected by the harmonic pinning potential. Some novel results on current correlations for the standard integrable Toda model are also reported.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Desynchronization and pattern formation in a noisy feedforward oscillators network

We consider a one-dimensional directional array of diffusively coupled oscillators. They are perturbed by the injection of a small additive noise, typically orders of magnitude smaller than the oscillation amplitude, and the system is studied in a region of the parameters that would yield deterministic synchronization. Non normal directed couplings seed a coherent amplification of the perturbation: this latter manifests as a modulation, transversal to the limit cycle, which gains in potency node after node. If the lattice extends long enough, the initial synchrony gets eventually lost and the system moves toward a non trivial attractor, which can be analytically characterized as an asymptotic splay state. The noise assisted instability, ultimately vehiculated and amplified by the non normal nature of the imposed couplings, eventually destabilizes also this second attractor. This phenomenon yields spatiotemporal patterns, which cannot be anticipated by a conventional linear stability analysis.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2018

Non normal amplification of stochastic quasi-cycles

Stochastic quasi-cycles for a two species model of the excitatory-inhibitory type, arranged on a triangular loop, are studied. By increasing the strength of the inter-nodes coupling, one moves the system towards the Hopf bifurcation and the amplitude of the stochastic oscillations are consequently magnified. When the system is instead constrained to evolve on specific manifolds, selected so as to return a constant rate of deterministic damping for the perturbations, the observed amplification correlates with the degree of non normal reactivity, here quantified by the numerical abscissa. The thermodynamics of the reactive loop is also investigated and the degree of inherent reactivity shown to facilitate the out-of-equilibrium exploration of the available phase space.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2018

Fluid and kinetic modelling for non-local heat transport in magnetic fusion devices

In order to improve the presently used ad hoc flux limiter treatment of parallel heat flux transport in edge plasma fluid codes we consider here a generalized version of the Fourier law implementing a non-local kernel for the heat flux computation. The Bohm boundary condition at the wall is recovered introducing a volumetric loss term representing the contribution of suprathermal particles to the energy out flux. As expected, this contribution is negligible in the strongly collisional regime while it becomes more and more dominant for marginally and low collisional regimes. In the second part of the paper, we consider a kinetic approach where collisions are considered using the Multi-Particle-Collision (MPC) algorithm. Kinetic simulation results at medium and low collisionality are also reported.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Collisional relaxation and dynamical scaling in multiparticle collisions dynamics

We present the Multi-Particle-Collision (MPC) dynamics approach to simulate properties of low-dimensional systems. In particular, we illustrate the method for a simple model: a one-dimensional gas of point particles interacting through stochastic collisions and admitting three conservation laws (density, momentum and energy). Motivated from problems in fusion plasma physics, we consider an energy-dependent collision rate that accounts for the lower collisionality of high-energy particles. We study two problems: (i) the collisional relaxation to equilibrium starting from an off-equilibrium state and (ii) the anomalous dynamical scaling of equilibrium time-dependent correlation functions. For problem (i), we demonstrate the existence of long-lived population of suprathermal particles that propagate ballistically over a quasi-thermalized background. For (ii) we compare simulations with the predictions of nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics for the structure factors of density fluctuations. Scaling analysis confirms the prediction that such model belong to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2017

Heat transport in oscillator chains with long-range interactions coupled to thermal reservoirs

We investigate thermal conduction in arrays of long-range interacting rotors and Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) oscillators coupled to two reservoirs at different temperatures. The strength of the interaction between two lattice sites decays as a power $α$ of the inverse of their distance. We point out the necessity of distinguishing between energy flows towards/from the reservoirs and those within the system. We show that energy flow between the reservoirs occurs via a direct transfer induced by long-range couplings and a diffusive process through the chain. To this aim, we introduce a decomposition of the steady-state heat current that explicitly accounts for such direct transfer of energy between the reservoir. For $0\leq α<1$, the direct transfer term dominates, meaning that the system can be effectively described as a set of oscillators each interacting with the thermal baths. Also, the heat current exchanged with the reservoirs depends on the size of the thermalised regions: in the case in which such size is proportional to the system size $N$, the stationary current is independent on $N$. For $α> 1$, heat transport mostly occurs through diffusion along the chain: for the rotors transport is normal, while for FPU the data are compatible with an anomalous diffusion, possibly with an $α$ -dependent characteristic exponent.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Noise driven neuromorphic tuned amplifier

Living systems implement and execute an extraordinary plethora of computational tasks. The inherent degree of large scale coordination emerges as a global property, from the intricate sea of microscopic interactions. The brain, with its structural and functional architecture, represents an emblematic example of hierarchic self-organization: elementary units, the neurons, act much like instruments of an orchestra, which combine diverse timbres to create harmonious symphonies. Neurons come indeed in different types, varying in shapes, connections and electrical properties. They all team up to process external stimuli from a number of sources and integrate the information to yield, from neurons to mind, different cognitive faculties. Identifying the coarse grained modules that exert, from bottom to up, pivotal neuronal functions constitutes a goal of paramount importance. On the other hand, the brain and its unraveled secrets could inspire novel biomimetics technologies to adaptively handle complex problems. Here, we investigate the intertwined stochastic dynamics of two populations of excitatory and inhibitory units, arranged in a directed lattice. The endogenous noise seeds a coherent amplification across the chain generating giant oscillations with tunable frequencies, a process that the brain could exploit to enhance, and eventually encode, different signals. The system works as an out-equilibrium thermal device under stationary operating conditions, the associated entropy production rate being analytically quantified. The same scheme could be invoked to design a novel family of manmade detectors capable of reacting to spatially distributed low intensity alerts.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2017

A Chain, a Bath, a Sink and a Wall

We investigate out-of-equilibrium stationary processes emerging in a Discrete Nonlinear Schroedinger chain in contact with a heat reservoir (a bath) at temperature $T_L$ and a pure dissipator (a sink) acting on opposite edges. We observe two different regimes. For small heat-bath temperatures $T_L$ and chemical-potentials, temperature profiles across the chain display a non-monotonous shape, remain remarkably smooth and even enter the region of negative absolute temperatures. For larger temperatures $T_L$, the transport of energy is strongly inhibited by the spontaneous emergence of discrete breathers, which act as a thermal wall. A strongly intermittent energy flux is also observed, due to the irregular birth and death events of the breathers. The corresponding statistics exhibits the typical signature of rare events of processes with large deviations. In particular, the breather lifetime is found to be ruled by a stretched-exponential law.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Intertangled stochastic motifs in networks of excitatory-inhibitory units

A stochastic model of excitatory and inhibitory interactions which bears universality traits is introduced and studied. The endogenous component of noise, stemming from finite size corrections, drives robust inter-nodes correlations, that persist at large large distances. Anti-phase synchrony at small frequencies is resolved on adjacent nodes and found to promote the spontaneous generation of long-ranged stochastic patterns, that invade the network as a whole. These patterns are lacking under the idealized deterministic scenario, and could provide novel hints on how living systems implement and handle a large gallery of delicate computational tasks.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2017

Multi-particle collision simulations of 2D one-component plasmas: anomalous transport and dimensional crossovers

By means of hybrid multi-particle collsion--particle-in-cell (MPC-PIC) simulations we study the dynamical scaling of energy and density correlations at equilibrium in moderately coupled 2D and quasi 1D plasmas. We find that the predictions of Nonlinear Fluctuating Hydrodynamics for the structure factors of density and energy fluctuations in 1D systems with three global conservation laws hold true also for two dimensional systems that are more extended along one of the two spatial dimensions. Moreover, from the analysis of the equilibrium energy correlators and density structure factors of both 1D and 2D neutral plasmas, we find that neglecting the contribution of the fluctuations of the vanishing self-consistent electrostatic fields overestimates the interval of frequencies over which the anomalous transport is observed. Such violations of the expected scaling in the currents correlation are found in different regimes, hindering the observation of the asymptotic scaling predicted by the theory.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2016

Fluctuating hydrodynamics approximation of the stochastic Cowan-Wilson model

We consider a stochastic version of the Wilson-Cowan model which accommodates for discrete populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. The model assumes a finite carrying capacity with the two populations being constant in size. The master equation that governs the dynamics of the stochastic model is analyzed by an expansion in powers of the inverse population size, yielding a coupled pair of non-linear Langevin equations with multiplicative noise. Gillespie simulations show the validity of the obtained approximation, for the parameter region where the system exhibits dynamical bistability. We report analytical progress by silencing the retroaction of the activators on the inhibitors, while still assigning the parameters so to fall in the region of deterministic bistability for the excitatory species. The proposed approach forms the basis of a perturbative generalization which applies to the case where a modest degree of coupling is restored.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2016

Heat transport in low dimensions: introduction and phenomenology

In this chapter we introduce some of the basic models and concepts that will be discussed throughout the volume. In particular we describe systems of nonlinear oscillators arranged on low-dimensional lattices and summarize the phenomenology of their transport properties.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2015

Anomalous dynamical scaling in anharmonic chains and plasma models with multiparticle collisions

We study the anomalous dynamical scaling of equilibrium correlations in one dimensional systems. Two different models are compared: the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain with cubic and quartic nonlinearity and a gas of point particles interacting stochastically through the multiparticle collision dynamics. For both models -that admit three conservation laws- by means of detailed numerical simulations we verify the predictions of nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics for the structure factors of density and energy fluctuations at equilibrium. Despite this, violations of the expected scaling in the currents correlation are found in some regimes, hindering the observation of the asymptotic scaling predicted by the theory. In the case of the gas model this crossover is clearly demonstrated upon changing the coupling constant.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2014

Full decoherence induced by local fields in open spin chains with strong boundary couplings

We investigate an open $XYZ$ spin $1/2$ chain driven out of equilibrium by boundary reservoirs targeting different spin orientations, aligned along the principal axes of anisotropy. We show that by tuning local magnetic fields, applied to spins at sites near the boundaries, one can change any nonequilibrium steady state to a fully uncorrelated Gibbsian state at infinite temperature. This phenomenon occurs for strong boundary coupling and on a critical manifold in the space of the fields amplitudes. The structure of this manifold depends on the anisotropy degree of the model and on the parity of the chain size.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

Heterogeneous Mean Field for neural networks with short term plasticity

We report about the main dynamical features of a model of leaky-integrate-and fire excitatory neurons with short term plasticity defined on random massive networks. We investigate the dynamics by a Heterogeneous Mean-Field formulation of the model, that is able to reproduce dynamical phases characterized by the presence of quasi-synchronous events. This formulation allows one to solve also the inverse problem of reconstructing the in-degree distribution for different network topologies from the knowledge of the global activity field. We study the robustness of this inversion procedure, by providing numerical evidence that the in-degree distribution can be recovered also in the presence of noise and disorder in the external currents. Finally, we discuss the validity of the heterogeneous mean-field approach for sparse networks, with a sufficiently large average in-degree.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2014

Boundary-induced instabilities in coupled oscillators

A novel class of nonequilibrium phase-transitions at zero temperature is found in chains of nonlinear oscillators.For two paradigmatic systems, the Hamiltonian XY model and the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation, we find that the application of boundary forces induces two synchronized phases, separated by a non-trivial interfacial region where the kinetic temperature is finite. Dynamics in such supercritical state displays anomalous chaotic properties whereby some observables are non-extensive and transport is superdiffusive. At finite temperatures, the transition is smoothed, but the temperature profile is still non-monotonous.

nlin.CD↗