Scaling properties of field-induced superdiffusion in Continous Time Random Walks

We consider a broad class of Continuous Time Random Walks with large fluctuations effects in space and time distributions: a random walk with trapping, describing subdiffusion in disordered and glassy materials, and a Levy walk process, often used to model superdiffusive effects in inhomogeneous materials. We derive the scaling form of the probability distributions and the asymptotic properties of all its moments in the presence of a field by two powerful techniques, based on matching conditions and on the estimate of the contribution of rare events to power-law tails in a field.

Rare events and scaling properties in field-induced anomalous dynamics

We show that, in a broad class of continuous time random walks (CTRW), a small external field can turn diffusion from standard into anomalous. We illustrate our findings in a CTRW with trapping, a prototype of subdiffusion in disordered and glassy materials, and in the Levy walk process, which describes superdiffusion within inhomogeneous media. For both models, in the presence of an external field, rare events induce a singular behavior in the originally Gaussian displacements distribution, giving rise to power-law tails. Remarkably, in the subdiffusive CTRW, the combined effect of highly fluctuating waiting times and of a drift yields a non-Gaussian distribution characterized by long spatial tails and strong anomalous superdiffusion.

Reaction Spreading on Graphs

We study reaction-diffusion processes on graphs through an extension of the standard reaction-diffusion equation starting from first principles. We focus on reaction spreading, i.e. on the time evolution of the reaction product, M(t). At variance with pure diffusive processes, characterized by the spectral dimension, d_s, for reaction spreading the important quantity is found to be the connectivity dimension, d_l. Numerical data, in agreement with analytical estimates based on the features of n independent random walkers on the graph, show that M(t) ~ t^{d_l}. In the case of Erdos-Renyi random graphs, the reaction-product is characterized by an exponential growth M(t) ~ e^{a t} with a proportional to ln<k>, where <k> is the average degree of the graph.

Scattering lengths and universality in superdiffusive Levy materials

We study the effects of scattering lengths on Levy walks in quenched one-dimensional random and fractal quasi-lattices, with scatterers spaced according to a long-tailed distribution. By analyzing the scaling properties of the random-walk probability distribution, we show that the effect of the varying scattering length can be reabsorbed in the multiplicative coefficient of the scaling length. This leads to a superscaling behavior, where the dynamical exponents and also the scaling functions do not depend on the value of the scattering length. Within the scaling framework, we obtain an exact expression for the multiplicative coefficient as a function of the scattering length both in the annealed and in the quenched random and fractal cases. Our analytic results are compared with numerical simulations, with excellent agreement, and are supposed to hold also in higher dimensions

Quantum Criticality in a Bosonic Josephson Junction

In this paper we consider a bosonic Josephson junction described by a two-mode Bose-Hubbard model, and we thoroughly analyze a quantum phase transition occurring in the system in the limit of infinite bosonic population. We discuss the relation between this quantum phase transition and the dynamical bifurcation occurring in the spectrum of the Discrete Self Trapping equations describing the system at the semiclassical level. In particular, we identify five regimes depending on the strength of the effective interaction among bosons, and study the finite-size effects arising from the finiteness of the bosonic population. We devote a special attention to the critical regime which reduces to the dynamical bifurcation point in the thermodynamic limit of infinite bosonic population. Specifically, we highlight an anomalous scaling in the population imbalance between the two wells of the trapping potential, as well as in two quantities borrowed from Quantum Information Theory, i.e. the entropy of entanglement and the ground-state fidelity. Our analysis is not limited to the zero temperature case, but considers thermal effects as well.

Non-equilibrium critical properties of the Ising model on product graphs

We study numerically the non-equilibrium critical properties of the Ising model defined on direct products of graphs, obtained from factor graphs without phase transition (Tc = 0). On this class of product graphs, the Ising model features a finite temperature phase transition, and we find a pattern of scaling behaviors analogous to the one known on regular lattices: Observables take a scaling form in terms of a function L(t) of time, with the meaning of a growing length inside which a coherent fractal structure, the critical state, is progressively formed. Computing universal quantities, such as the critical exponents and the limiting fluctuation-dissipation ratio X_infty, allows us to comment on the possibility to extend universality concepts to the critical behavior on inhomogeneous substrates.

Local and average behavior in inhomogeneous superdiffusive media

We consider a random walk on one-dimensional inhomogeneous graphs built from Cantor fractals. Our study is motivated by recent experiments that demonstrated superdiffusion of light in complex disordered materials, thereby termed Levy glasses. We introduce a geometric parameter $alpha$ which plays a role analogous to the exponent characterizing the step length distribution in random systems. We study the large-time behavior of both local and average observables; for the latter case, we distinguish two different types of averages, respectively over the set of all initial sites and over the scattering sites only. The single long jump approximation is applied to analytically determine the different asymptotic behaviours as a function of $alpha$ and to understand their origin. We also discuss the possibility that the root of the mean square displacement and the characteristic length of the walker distribution may grow according to different power laws; this anomalous behaviour is typical of processes characterized by Levy statistics and here, in particular, it is shown to influence average quantities.

Levy walks and scaling in quenched disordered media

We study Levy walks in quenched disordered one-dimensional media, with scatterers spaced according to a long-tailed distribution. By analyzing the scaling relations for the random-walk probability and for the resistivity in the equivalent electric problem, we obtain the asymptotic behavior of the mean square displacement as a function of the exponent characterizing the scatterers distribution. We demonstrate that in quenched media different average procedures can display different asymptotic behavior. In particular, we estimate the moments of the displacement averaged over processes starting from scattering sites, in analogy with recent experiments. Our results are compared with numerical simulations, with excellent agreement.

Levy-type diffusion on one-dimensional directed Cantor Graphs

Levy-type walks with correlated jumps, induced by the topology of the medium, are studied on a class of one-dimensional deterministic graphs built from generalized Cantor and Smith-Volterra-Cantor sets. The particle performs a standard random walk on the sets but is also allowed to move ballistically throughout the empty regions. Using scaling relations and the mapping onto the electric network problem, we obtain the exact values of the scaling exponents for the asymptotic return probability, the resistivity and the mean square displacement as a function of the topological parameters of the sets. Interestingly, the systems undergoes a transition from superdiffusive to diffusive behavior as a function of the filling of the fractal. The deterministic topology also allows us to discuss the importance of the choice of the initial condition. In particular, we demonstrate that local and average measurements can display different asymptotic behavior. The analytic results are compared with the numerical solution of the master equation of the process.

Phase ordering and universality for continuous symmetry models on graphs

We study the phase-ordering kinetics following a temperature quench of O(N) continuous symmetry models with and 4 on graphs. By means of extensive simulations, we show that the global pattern of scaling behaviours is analogous to the one found on usual lattices. The exponent a for the integrated response function and the exponent z, describing the growing length, are related to the large scale topology of the networks through the spectral dimension and the fractal dimension alone, by means of the same expressions as are provided by the analytic solution of the inifnite N limit. This suggests that the large N value of these exponents could be exact for every N.