Related papers: Reactive glass and vegetation patterns
The complex dynamical phases of quantum systems are dictated by atomic interactions that usually evoke an emergent periodic order. Here, we study a quantum many-body system with two competing and substantially different long-range…
The transient behaviour of highly concentrated colloidal liquids and dynamically arrested states (glasses) under time-dependent shear is reviewed. This includes both theoretical and experimental studies and comprises the macroscopic…
We study the distribution of overlaps of glassy minima, taking proper care of residual symmetries of the system. Ensembles of locally stable, low lying glassy states are efficiently generated by rapid cooling from the liquid phase which has…
The random first-order transition (RFOT) theory of the structural glass transition is reviewed in a pedagogical fashion. The rigidity that emerges in crystals and glassy liquids is of the same fundamental origin. In both cases, it…
It is well-known for vibro-impact systems that the existence of a periodic solution with a low-velocity impact (so-called grazing) may yield complex behavior of the solutions. In this paper we show that unstable periodic motions which pass…
Spatially extended patterns and multistability of possible different states is common in many ecosystems, and their combination has an important impact on their dynamical behaviours. One potential combination involves tristability between a…
We introduce time correlation functions between Inherent Structures (IS) of a supercooled liquid. We show that these functions are useful to relate the slowing down of the dynamics to the structure of the energy landscape near the glass…
We analyze the properties of a Lennard-Jones system at the level of the potential energy landscape. After an exhaustive investigation of the topological features of the landscape of the systems, obtained studying small size sample, we…
In a recent publication we established an analogy between the free energy of a hard sphere system and the energy of an elastic network [1]. This result enables one to study the free energy landscape of hard spheres, in particular to define…
The field of disordered systems provides many simple models in which the competing influences of thermal and non-thermal disorder lead to new phases and non-trivial thermal behavior of order parameters. In this paper, we add a model to the…
The two-dimensional XY-model with random phase-shifts on bonds is studied. The analysis is based on a renormalization group for the replicated system. The model is shown to have an ordered phase with quasi long-range order. This ordered…
We examine the structural relaxation of glassy materials at finite temperatures, considering the effect of activated rearrangements and long-range elastic interactions. Our three-dimensional mesoscopic relaxation model shows how the…
A theoretical analysis [Angelani et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 065702 (2006)] predicts glassy behaviour of light in a nonlinear random medium. This implies slow dynamics related to the presence of many metastable states. We consider very…
In equilibrium, disorder conspires with topological defects to redefine the ordered states of matter in systems as diverse as crystals, superconductors and liquid crystals. Far from equilibrium, however, the consequences of quenched…
The dynamical properties and mechanical functions of amorphous materials are governed by their microscopic structures, particularly the elasticity of the interaction networks, which is generally complicated by structural heterogeneity. This…
There have been some interesting recent advances in understanding the notion of mechanical disorder in structural glasses and the statistical mechanics of these systems' low-energy excitations. Here we contribute to these advances by…
We present a modified water-vegetation model to investigate the mechanistic relationship between infiltration-soil moisture feedback and vegetation pattern in arid/semi-arid ecosystems. Employing Turing pattern formation theory, we drive…
We develop a framework for understanding the difference between strong and fragile behavior in the dynamics of glass-forming liquids from the properties of the potential energy landscape. Our approach is based on a master equation…
Several theoretical models predict that spatial patterning increases ecosystem resilience. However, these predictions rely on simplifying assumptions, such as assuming isotropic and infinitely large ecosystems, and empirical evidence…
Self-organized spatial patterns of vegetation are frequent in drylands and, because pattern shape correlates with water availability, they have been suggested as important indicators of ecosystem health. However, the mechanisms underlying…