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Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Thermodynamics & statistical physics > Statistical physics
This thesis focuses on experimental studies on collective motion using swimming bacteria as model active-matter systems. It offers comprehensive reviews of state-of-the-art theories and experiments on collective motion from the viewpoint of nonequilibrium statistical physics. The author presents his experimental studies on two major classes of collective motion that had been well studied theoretically. Firstly, swimming filamentous bacteria in a thin fluid layer are shown to exhibit true, long-range orientational order and anomalously strong giant density fluctuations, which are considered universal and landmark signatures of collective motion by many numerical and theoretical works but have never been observed in real systems. Secondly, chaotic bacterial turbulence in a three-dimensional dense suspension without any long-range order as described in the first half is demonstrated to be capable of achieving antiferromagnetic vortex order by imposing a small number of constraints with appropriate periodicity. The experimental results presented significantly advance our fundamental understanding of order and fluctuations in collective motion of motile elements and their future applications.
Conjugated polymers have important technological applications, including solar cells and light emitting devices. They are also active components in many important biological processes. In recent years there have been significant advances in our understanding of these systems, owing to both improved experimental measurements and the development of advanced computational techniques. The aim of this book is to describe and explain the electronic and optical properties of conjugated polymers. It focuses on the three key roles of electron-electron interactions, electron-nuclear coupling, and disorder in determining the character of the electronic states, and it relates these properties to experimental observations in real systems. A number of important optical and electronic processes in conjugated polymers are also described. The second edition has a more extended discussion of excitons in conjugated polymers. There is also a new chapter on the static and dynamical localization of excitons.
This monograph is devoted to an entirely new branch of nonlinear physics - solitary intrinsic states, or autosolitons, which form in a broad class of physical, chemical and biological dissipative systems. Autosolitons are often observed as highly nonequilibrium regions in slightly nonequilibrium systems, in many ways resembling ball lightning which occurs in the atmosphere. We develop a new approach to problems of self-organization and turbulence, treating these phenomena as a result of spontaneous formation and subsequent evolution of autosolitons. Scenarios of self-organization involve sophisticated interactions between autosolitons, whereas turbulence is regarded as a pattern of autosolitons which appear and disappear at random in different parts of the system. This monograph is the first attempt to provide a comprehensive summary of the theory of autosolitons as developed by the authors over the years of research. The monograph is comprised of three more or less autonomous parts. Part I deals with the physical nature and experimental studies of autosolitons and self organization in various physical systems: semiconductor and gas plasma, heated gas mixture, semiconductor structures, composite superconductors, optical and magnetic media, systems with uniformly generated combustion matter, distributed gas-discharge and electronic systems. We discuss feasibility of autosolitons in the form of highly nonequilibrium regions in slightly nonequilibrium gases and semiconductors, "hot" and "cold" regions in semiconductor and gas plasmas, static, pulsating and traveling combustion fronts."
Researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students of high energy physics
A dynamical system is called isochronous if it features in its phase space an open, fully-dimensional region where all its solutions are periodic in all its degrees of freedom with the same, fixed period. Recently a simple transformation has been introduced, applicable to quite a large class of dynamical systems, that yields autonomous systems which are isochronous. This justifies the notion that isochronous systems are not rare. In this book the procedure to manufacture isochronous systems is reviewed, and many examples of such systems are provided. Examples include many-body problems characterized by Newtonian equations of motion in spaces of one or more dimensions, Hamiltonian systems, and also nonlinear evolution equations (PDEs). The book shall be of interest to students and researchers working on dynamical systems, including integrable and nonintegrable models, with a finite or infinite number of degrees of freedom. It might be used as a basic textbook, or as backup material for an undergraduate or graduate course.
This book provides the reader with an elementary introduction to
chaos and fractals, suitable for students with a background in
elementary algebra, without assuming prior coursework in calculus
or physics. It introduces the key phenomena of chaos -
aperiodicity, sensitive dependence on initial conditions,
bifurcations - via simple iterated functions. Fractals are
introduced as self-similar geometric objects and analyzed with the
self-similarity and box-counting dimensions. After a brief
discussion of power laws, subsequent chapters explore Julia Sets
and the Mandelbrot Set. The last part of the book examines
two-dimensional dynamical systems, strange attractors, cellular
automata, and chaotic differential equations.
This book is based on the premise that the entropy concept, a fundamental element of probability theory as logic, governs all of thermal physics, both equilibrium and nonequilibrium. The variational algorithm of J. Willard Gibbs, dating from the 19th Century and extended considerably over the following 100 years, is shown to be the governing feature over the entire range of thermal phenomena, such that only the nature of the macroscopic constraints changes. Beginning with a short history of the development of the entropy concept by Rudolph Clausius and his predecessors, along with the formalization of classical thermodynamics by Gibbs, the first part of the book describes the quest to uncover the meaning of thermodynamic entropy, which leads to its relationship with probability and information as first envisioned by Ludwig Boltzmann. Recognition of entropy first of all as a fundamental element of probability theory in mid-twentieth Century led to deep insights into both statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, the details of which are presented here in several chapters. The later chapters extend these ideas to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics in an unambiguous manner, thereby exhibiting the overall unifying role of the entropy.
Density functional theory (DFT) has blossomed in the past few decades into a powerful tool that is used by experimentalists and theoreticians alike. This book highlights the extensive contributions that the DFT-based OLCAO method has made to progress in this field, and it demonstrates its competitiveness for performing ab initio calculations on large and complex models of practical systems. A brief historical account and introduction to the elements of the theory set the stage for discussions on semiconductors, insulators, crystalline metals and alloys, complex crystals, non-crystalline solids and liquids, microstructure containing systems and those containing impurities, defects, and surfaces, biomolecular systems, and the technique of ab initio core level spectroscopy calculation.
This book provides analytical and numerical methods for the estimation of dimension characteristics (Hausdorff, Fractal, Caratheodory dimensions) for attractors and invariant sets of dynamical systems and cocycles generated by smooth differential equations or maps in finite-dimensional Euclidean spaces or on manifolds. It also discusses stability investigations using estimates based on Lyapunov functions and adapted metrics. Moreover, it introduces various types of Lyapunov dimensions of dynamical systems with respect to an invariant set, based on local, global and uniform Lyapunov exponents, and derives analytical formulas for the Lyapunov dimension of the attractors of the Henon and Lorenz systems. Lastly, the book presents estimates of the topological entropy for general dynamical systems in metric spaces and estimates of the topological dimension for orbit closures of almost periodic solutions to differential equations.
This book presents solutions to problems that are total and based on thinking about how and why humans have organized themselves. It discusses how to avoid the now well-documented Holocene Extinction, propelled by climate change, wars, resource depletion, desertification, degrading knowledge quality, famine, and deterioration of societies overall. It explains why we cannot respond effectively with hedonistic, incompetent, corrupt, and anarchistic "liberal democracy" and why neither personality cult regimes can suffice. The book offers a model of an organic social structure embodying a collective consciousness of communitarianism and Platonic-style ethos. Putting an emphasis on the re-establishment of Classical Greek virtue, it offers solutions to resolve identity politics, alienation, and meritocracy. While doing so, the author opposes the "everyone is equal" ideology to govern the section of policymakers, instead circumscribing "rights" in terms of responsibilities, prioritizing education and training to carry forth the ethos of valuing truth above materialism, and developing Durkheim's social brain via a new discipline, "sociointelligence". The book goes on to explain how underpinning these elements is a comprehensive elucidation of often misunderstood words like "liberty", "freedom", "authoritarianism", and "democracy". All of these areas are arranged and combined in uniquely describing the organic society the author deems necessary to avoid human extinction. As a result, the book presents a “new organicityâ€, where the emerging transhumanism seeks to transcend hydrocarbon-based life with humanly-constructed life. This book will appeal to students, researchers, and scholars of political science, philosophy, and the social sciences interested in a better understanding of complexity, democratic theory, Holocene Extinction, organic thinking, and meritocratic societies.Â
This thesis presents the first experimental calibration of the top-quark Monte-Carlo mass. It also provides the top-quark mass-independent and most precise top-quark pair production cross-section measurement to date. The most precise measurements of the top-quark mass obtain the top-quark mass parameter (Monte-Carlo mass) used in simulations, which are partially based on heuristic models. Its interpretation in terms of mass parameters used in theoretical calculations, e.g. a running or a pole mass, has been a long-standing open problem with far-reaching implications beyond particle physics, even affecting conclusions on the stability of the vacuum state of our universe. In this thesis, this problem is solved experimentally in three steps using data obtained with the compact muon solenoid (CMS) detector. The most precise top-quark pair production cross-section measurements to date are performed. The Monte-Carlo mass is determined and a new method for extracting the top-quark mass from theoretical calculations is presented. Lastly, the top-quark production cross-sections are obtained - for the first time - without residual dependence on the top-quark mass, are interpreted using theoretical calculations to determine the top-quark running- and pole mass with unprecedented precision, and are fully consistently compared with the simultaneously obtained top-quark Monte-Carlo mass.
This book explores the role of exaptation in diverse areas of life, with examples ranging from biology to economics, social sciences and architecture. The concept of exaptation, introduced in evolutionary biology by Gould and Vrba in 1982, describes the possibility that already existing traits can be exploited for new purposes throughout the evolutionary process. Edited by three active scholars in the fields of biology, physics and economics, the book presents an interdisciplinary collection of expert viewpoints illustrating the importance of exaptation for interpreting current reality in various fields of investigation. Using the lenses of exaptation, the contributing authors show how to view the overall macroscopic landscape as comprising many disciplines, all working in unity within a single complex system. This book is the first to discuss exaptation in both hard and soft disciplines and highlights the role of this concept in understanding the birth of innovation by identifying key elements and ideas. It also offers a comprehensive guide to the emerging interdisciplinary field of exaptation, provides didactic explanations of the basic concepts, and avoids excessive jargon and heavy formalism. Its target audience includes graduate students in physics, biology, mathematics, economics, psychology and architecture; it will also appeal to established researchers in the humanities who wish to explore or enter this new science-driven interdisciplinary field.
This book presents a selection of the talks resulting from research carried out by different groups at the Centre de Recerca Matematica and presented at the International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics, held in Valencia in 2019. The various chapters describe a wide variety of topics: cancer modelling, carbon capture by adsorption, nanoscale diffusion and complex systems to predict earthquakes. These mathematical studies were specifically aided via collaborations with biomedical engineers, physicists and chemists. The book is addressed to researchers in all of these areas as well as in general mathematical modelling.
The book is based on the lectures delivered at the XCIII Session of
the Ecole de Physique des Houches, held in August, 2009. The aim of
the event was to familiarize the new generation of PhD students and
postdoctoral fellows with the principles and methods of modern
lattice field theory, which aims to resolve fundamental,
non-perturbative questions about QCD without uncontrolled
approximations.
Existing texts on the statistical mechanics of liquids treat only spherical molecules. However, nearly all fluids of practical interest are composed of non-spherical molecules that are often dipolar or exhibit other kinds of electrostatic forces. This book describes the statistical mechanical theory of fluids of non-spherical molecules and its application to the calculation of physical properties, and is a sequel to Theory of Molecular Fluids. Volume 1: Fundamentals by C.G. Gray and K.E. Gubbins. The emphasis is on the new phenomena that arise due to the non-spherical nature of the intermolecular forces, such as new phase transitions, structural features and dielectric effects. It contains chapters on the thermodynamic properties of pure and mixed fluids, surface properties, X-ray and neutron diffraction structure factors, dielectric properties and spectroscopic properties. The book is aimed at beginning graduate students and research workers in chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering.
In recent years, there has been much synergy between the exciting areas of quantum information science and ultracold atoms. This volume, as part of the proceedings for the XCI session of Les Houches School of Physics (held for the first time outside Europe in Singapore) brings together experts in both fields. The theme of the school focused on two principal topics: quantum information science and ultracold atomic physics. The topics range from Bose Einstein Condensates to Degenerate Fermi Gases to fundamental concepts in Quantum Information Sciences, including some special topics on Quantum Hall Effects, Quantum Phase Transition, Interactions in Quantum Fluids, Disorder and Interference Phenomenoma, Trapped Ions and Atoms, and Quantum Optical Devices.
Analytical Mechanics for Relativity and Quantum Mechanics is an
innovative and mathematically sound treatment of the foundations of
analytical mechanics and the relation of classical mechanics to
relativity and quantum theory. It is intended for use at the
introductory graduate level. A distinguishing feature of the book
is its integration of special relativity into teaching of classical
mechanics. After a thorough review of the traditional theory, Part
II of the book introduces extended Lagrangian and Hamiltonian
methods that treat time as a transformable coordinate rather than
the fixed parameter of Newtonian physics. Advanced topics such as
covariant Langrangians and Hamiltonians, canonical transformations,
and Hamilton-Jacobi methods are simplified by the use of this
extended theory. And the definition of canonical transformation no
longer excludes the Lorenz transformation of special relativity.
This wide-ranging book introduces information as a key concept not only in physics, from quantum mechanics to thermodynamics, but also in the neighboring sciences and in the humanities. The central part analyzes dynamical processes as manifestations of information flows between microscopic and macroscopic scales and between systems and their environment. Quantum mechanics is interpreted as a reconstruction of mechanics based on fundamental limitations of information processing on the smallest scales. These become particularly manifest in quantum chaos and in quantum computing. Covering subjects such as causality, prediction, undecidability, chaos, and quantum randomness, the book also provides an information-theoretical view of predictability. More than 180 illustrations visualize the concepts and arguments. The book takes inspiration from the author's graduate-level topical lecture but is also well suited for undergraduate studies and is a valuable resource for researchers and professionals.
This book presents in a progressive way the techniques used in the proof of the hydrodynamic behavior of interacting particle systems. It starts with introductory material on independent particles and goes all the way to nongradient systems, covering the entropy and the relative entropy methods, asymmetric processes from which hyperbolic equations emerge, the equilibrium fluctuations and the large deviations theory for short-range stochastic dynamics. It reviews, in appendices, some tools of Markov process theory and derives estimates on the spectral gap of reversible, conservative generators. The book is self-contained and can be read by graduate students in mathematics or mathematical physics with standard probability background. It can be used as a support for a graduate on stochastic processes.
The pendulum is a unique physical system which exhibits remarkably
varied and complex behavior under many different conditions. It is
also a system which, in its many manifestations, has left a
significant imprint on human thought and culture. Using graphs,
figures, and narrative to explain scientific ideas and models,
Gregory Baker gives a lucid account of the physics of the pendulum,
showing the reader how the context of the pendulum progresses over
four centuries from that of a simple system of classical physics,
to that of a chaotic system, and eventually to that of a modern
quantum system. He also describes its fascinating presence in
cultural history, from its role in timekeeping and measurements of
the earth to its importance as a literary symbol of doom.
Based on only elementary mathematics, this engaging account of chaos theory bridges the gap between introductions for the layman and college-level texts. It develops the science of dynamics in terms of small time steps, describes the phenomenon of chaos through simple examples, and concludes with a close look at a homoclinic tangle, the mathematical monster at the heart of chaos. The presentation is enhanced by many figures, animations of chaotic motion (available on a companion CD), and biographical sketches of the pioneers of dynamics and chaos theory. To ensure accessibility to motivated high school students, care has been taken to explain advanced mathematical concepts simply, including exponentials and logarithms, probability, correlation, frequency analysis, fractals, and transfinite numbers. These tools help to resolve the intriguing paradox of motion that is predictable and yet random, while the final chapter explores the various ways chaos theory has been put to practical use.
As an introductory account of the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena, Elements of Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena reflects lectures given by the authors to graduate students at their departments and is thus classroom-tested to help beginners enter the field. Most parts are written as self-contained units and every new concept or calculation is explained in detail without assuming prior knowledge of the subject. The book significantly enhances and revises a Japanese version which is a bestseller in the Japanese market and is considered a standard textbook in the field. It contains new pedagogical presentations of field theory methods, including a chapter on conformal field theory, and various modern developments hard to find in a single textbook on phase transitions. Exercises are presented as the topics develop, with solutions found at the end of the book, making the text useful for self-teaching, as well as for classroom learning.
This book provides a critical update of the most recent and innovative developments of avalanche science. It aims at re-founding avalanche science on clear scientific bases, from field observations and experiments up to mathematical and physical analysis and modeling. In this respect, it stands in a still unoccupied but fundamental niche amidst the abundant avalanche literature. In the current context of a accelerated climate warming, the book also discusses possible evolutions of snow cover extent and stability. It also shows how the present analysis can be extended, in mountainous areas, to other gravitationally induced phenomena that are likely to take over from avalanches under specific circumstances. The text is supported by online links to field experiments and lectures on triggering mechanisms, risk management, and decision making.
This book is intended as reference material for students and professors interested in air pollution modeling at the graduate level as well as researchers and professionals involved in developing and utilizing air pollution models. Current developments in air pollution modeling are explored as a series of contributions from researchers at the forefront of their field. This newest contribution on air pollution modeling and its application is focused on local, urban, regional and intercontinental modeling; emission modeling and processing; data assimilation and air quality forecasting; model assessment and evaluation; aerosol transformation. Additionally, this work also examines the relationship between air quality and human health and the effects of climate change on air quality. This work is a collection of selected papers presented at the 37th International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modeling and its Application, held in Hamburg, Germany, September 23-27, 2019.
Nonlinear elliptic problems play an increasingly important role in
mathematics, science and engineering, creating an exciting
interplay between the subjects. This is the first and only book to
prove in a systematic and unifying way, stability, convergence and
computing results for the different numerical methods for nonlinear
elliptic problems. The proofs use linearization, compact
perturbation of the coercive principal parts, or monotone operator
techniques, and approximation theory. Examples are given for linear
to fully nonlinear problems (highest derivatives occur nonlinearly)
and for the most important space discretization methods: conforming
and nonconforming finite element, discontinuous Galerkin, finite
difference, wavelet (and, in a volume to follow, spectral and
meshfree) methods. A number of specific long open problems are
solved here: numerical methods for fully nonlinear elliptic
problems, wavelet and meshfree methods for nonlinear problems, and
more general nonlinear boundary conditions. We apply it to all
these problems and methods, in particular to eigenvalues, monotone
operators, quadrature approximations, and Newton methods.
Adaptivity is discussed for finite element and wavelet methods.
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