Mixed order phase transitions (MOT), which display discontinuous order parameter and diverging correlation length, appear in several seemingly unrelated settings ranging from equilibrium models with long-range interactions to models far from thermal
equilibrium. In a recent paper [1] an exactly soluble spin model with long-range interactions that exhibits MOT was introduced and analyzed both by a grand canonical calculation and a renormalization group analysis. The model was shown to lay a bridge between two classes of one dimensional models exhibiting MOT, namely between spin models with inverse distance square interactions and surface depinning models. In this paper we elaborate on the calculations done in [1]. We also analyze the model in the canonical ensemble, which yields a better insight into the mechanism of MOT. In addition, we generalize the model to include Potts and general Ising spins, and also consider a broader class of interactions which decay with distance with a power law different from 2.
We introduce and analyze an exactly soluble one-dimensional Ising model with long range interactions which exhibits a mixed order transition (MOT), namely a phase transition in which the order parameter is discontinuous as in first order transitions
while the correlation length diverges as in second order transitions. Such transitions are known to appear in a diverse classes of models which are seemingly unrelated. The model we present serves as a link between two classes of models which exhibit MOT in one dimension, namely, spin models with a coupling constant which decays as the inverse distance squared and models of depinning transitions, thus making a step towards a unifying framework.
The denaturation transition of circular DNA is studied within a Poland-Scheraga type approach, generalized to account for the fact that the total linking number (LK), which measures the number of windings of one strand around the other, is conserved.
In the model the LK conservation is maintained by invoking both overtwisting and writhing (supercoiling) mechanisms. This generalizes previous studies which considered each mechanism separately. The phase diagram of the model is analyzed as a function of the temperature and the elastic constant $kappa$ associated with the overtwisting energy for any given loop entropy exponent, $c$. As is the case where the two mechanisms apply separately, the model exhibits no denaturation transition for $c le 2$. For $c>2$ and $kappa=0$ we find that the model exhibits a first order transition. The transition becomes of higher order for any $kappa>0$. We also calculate the contribution of the two mechanisms separately in maintaining the conservation of the linking number and find that it is weakly dependent on the loop exponent $c$.
A model for epidemic spreading on rewiring networks is introduced and analyzed for the case of scale free steady state networks. It is found that contrary to what one would have naively expected, the rewiring process typically tends to suppress epide
mic spreading. In particular it is found that as in static networks, rewiring networks with degree distribution exponent $gamma >3$ exhibit a threshold in the infection rate below which epidemics die out in the steady state. However the threshold is higher in the rewiring case. For $2<gamma leq 3$ no such threshold exists, but for small infection rate the steady state density of infected nodes (prevalence) is smaller for rewiring networks.
We introduce a class of 1D models mimicking a single-lane bridge with two junctions and two particle species driven in opposite directions. The model exhibits spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) for a range of injection/extraction rates. In this phas
e the steady state currents of the two species are not equal. Moreover there is a co-existence region in which the symmetry broken phase co-exists with a symmetric phase. Along a path in which the extraction rate is varied, keeping the injection rate fixed and large, hysteresis takes place. The mean field phase diagram is calculated and supporting Monte-Carlo simulations are presented. One of the transition lines exhibits a kink, a feature which cannot exist in transition lines of equilibrium phase transitions.
Nuclear pore complexes are constantly confronted by large fluxes of macromolecules and macromolecular complexes that need to get into and out of the nucleus. Such bi-directional traffic occurring in a narrow channel can easily lead to jamming. How th
en is passage between the nucleus and cytoplasm maintained under the varying conditions that arise during the lifetime of the cell? Here, we address this question using computer simulations in which the behaviour of the ensemble of transporting cargoes is analyzed under different conditions. We suggest that traffic can exist in two distinct modes, depending on concentration of cargoes and dissociation rates of the transport receptor-cargo complexes from the pores. In one mode, which prevails when dissociation is quick and cargo concentration is low, transport in either direction proceeds uninterrupted by the other direction. The result is that overall-traffic-direction fluctuates rapidly and unsystematically between import and export. Remarkably, when cargo concentrations are high and dissociation is slow, another mode takes over in which traffic proceeds in one direction for a certain extent of time, after which it flips direction for another period. The switch between this, more regulated, mode of transport and the other, quickly fluctuating state, does not require an active gating mechanism but rather occurs spontaneously through the dynamics of the transported particles themselves. The determining factor for the behaviour of traffic is found to be the exit rate from the pore channel, which is directly related to the activity of the Ran system that controls the loading and release of cargo in the appropriate cellular compartment.
The steady-state distributions and dynamical behaviour of Zero Range Processes with hopping rates which are non-monotonic functions of the site occupation are studied. We consider two classes of non-monotonic hopping rates. The first results in a con
densed phase containing a large (but subextensive) number of mesocondensates each containing a subextensive number of particles. The second results in a condensed phase containing a finite number of extensive condensates. We study the scaling behaviour of the peak in the distribution function corresponding to the condensates in both cases. In studying the dynamics of the condensate we identify two timescales: one for creation, the other for evaporation of condensates at a given site. The scaling behaviour of these timescales is studied within the Arrhenius law approach and by numerical simulations.
