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The approaches developed for studying the polarization of molecules and the dynamics of ions in dielectric materials are usually considered separately. The two effects are often believed to take place in different frequency ranges. The low frequency response is usually dominated by ionic migration, whereas the high frequency response is played by molecular polarization. The goal here is to clarify the interplay between free and bound charge densities and their influences on permittivity and impedance profiles by proposing a version of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) model that allows to include the effect of a frequency-dependent (and thus not instantaneous) polarizability.

We study generalized Cattaneo (telegrapher's) equations involving memory effects introduced by smearing the time derivatives. Consistency conditions where the smearing functions obey restrict freedom in their choice but the proposed scheme goes beyond the approach based on using fractional derivatives. We find conditions under which solutions of the equations considered so far can be recognized as probability distributions, i.e., are normalizable and nonnegative on their domains. Nonnegativity of solutions is demonstrated by methods of positive definite and completely monotonic functions with the Bernstein theorem being the cornerstone of the ongoing proofs. Analysis of exactly solvable examples and relevant mean-squared displacements enables us to classify diffusion processes described by such got solutions and to identify them with either ordinary or anomalous diffusion which character may change over time. To complete the present research we compare our results with those obtained using the continuous-time random-walk and the continuous-time persistent random-walk approaches.

Recent experimental findings on anomalous diffusion have demanded novel models that combine annealed (temporal) and quenched (spatial or static) disorder mechanisms. The comb model is a simplified description of diffusion on percolation clusters, where the comblike structure mimics quenched disorder mechanisms and yields a subdiffusive regime. Here we extend the comb model to simultaneously account for quenched and annealed disorder mechanisms. To do so, we replace usual derivatives in the comb diffusion equation by different fractional time-derivative operators and the conventional comblike structure by a generalized fractal structure. Our hybrid comb models thus represent a diffusion where different comblike structures describe different quenched disorder mechanisms, and the fractional operators account for various annealed disorder mechanisms. We find exact solutions for the diffusion propagator and mean square displacement in terms of different memory kernels used for defining the fractional operators. Among other findings, we show that these models describe crossovers from subdiffusion to Brownian or confined diffusions, situations emerging in empirical results. These results reveal the critical role of interactions between geometrical restrictions and memory effects on modeling anomalous diffusion.

We investigate a connection between random walks and nonlinear diffusion equations within the framework proposed by Einstein to explain the Brownian motion. We show here how to properly modify that framework in order to handle different physical scenarios. We obtain solutions for nonlinear diffusion equations that emerge from the random walk approach and analyse possible connections with a generalized thermostatistics formalism. Finally, we conclude that fractal and fractional derivatives may emerge in the context of nonlinear diffusion equations, depending on the choice of distribution functions related to the spreading of systems., Competing Interests: We declare we have no competing interest., (© 2019 The Author(s).)

We investigate possible connections between two different implementations of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) anomalous models used to analyze the electrical response of electrolytic cells. One of them is built in the framework of the fractional calculus and considers integro-differential boundary conditions also formulated by using fractional derivatives; the other one is an extension of the standard PNP model presented by Barsoukov and Macdonald, which can also be related to equivalent circuits containing constant phase elements (CPEs). Both extensions may be related to an anomalous diffusion with subdiffusive characteristics through the electrical conductivity and are able to describe the experimental data presented here. Furthermore, we apply the Bayesian inversion method to extract the parameter of interest in the analytical formulas of impedance. To resolve the corresponding inverse problem, we use the delayed-rejection adaptive-Metropolis algorithm (DRAM) in the context of Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms to find the posterior distributions of the parameter and the corresponding confidence intervals.

Recent discoveries of advanced photocontrolled materials have kindled a great deal of interest on their use as command surfaces that switch easy axis under light radiation. One noticeable point when using switchable surfaces on any application is how the dynamical process propagates to the bulk directors. In this paper, we theoretically study the effect of a relaxing easy axis over time on a nematic sample when finite anchoring energy and surface viscosity are included. We first consider the case where just one of the substrates decay over time in an initially distorted director organization. Next, we assume that both substrates can be switched simultaneously. From the calculated director we obtained the optical profile and finally the molecular response time of the material. The response time depends on both the materials and the surfaces properties including its decay time. Our results might be used for understanding and engineering liquid crystal displays and other electro-optical devices with photocontrolled alignment layers.

Surface driven pattern formation is an intriguing phenomenon in the liquid crystal field. Owing to its ability to transmit torque, one can generate different patterns by propagating distortions on the optical wavelength scale in the sample from the surface. Here, we theoretically investigate (from the elasticity point of view) twist deformations induced by a rotating easy axis at one surface, by considering the anchoring energy and surface viscosity of nematic and chiral nematic samples. The model is solved analytically in the limit of strong anchoring and numerically for a low anchoring strength situation. Such rotation could be induced, in principle, by light-controlling the orientation of an azobenzene monolayer coated at one of the glass substrates or by an in-plane rotating field. We discuss the role of the surface parameters and the different distortions, and calculate light transmission using the Jones method. Three different regimes are identified: free twist, stick-slip twist, and constrained twist. The results obtained here may be relevant for liquid crystal active waveplates and for determining surface viscosity and the azimuthal anchoring energy.

We use the H theorem to establish the entropy and the entropic additivity law for a system composed of subsystems, with the dynamics governed by the Klein-Kramers equations, by considering relations among the dynamics of these subsystems and their entropies. We start considering the subsystems governed by linear Klein-Kramers equations and verify that the Boltzmann-Gibbs entropy is appropriated to this dynamics, leading us to the standard entropic additivity, S_{BG}^{(1∪2)}=S_{BG}^{1}+S_{BG}^{2}, consistent with the fact that the distributions of the subsystem are independent. We then extend the dynamics of these subsystems to independent nonlinear Klein-Kramers equations. For this case, the results show that the H theorem is verified for a generalized entropy, which does not preserve the standard entropic additivity for independent distributions. In this scenario, consistent results are obtained when a suitable coupling among the nonlinear Klein-Kramers equations is considered, in which each subsystem modifies the other until an equilibrium state is reached. This dynamics, for the subsystems, results in the Tsallis entropy for the system and, consequently, verifies the relation S_{q}^{(1∪2)}=S_{q}^{1}+S_{q}^{2}+(1-q)S_{q}^{1}S_{q}^{2}/k, which is a nonadditive entropic relation.

In this study, we argue that ion motion in electrolytic cells containing Milli-Q water, weak electrolytes, or liquid crystals may exhibit unusual diffusive regimes that deviate from the expected behavior, leading the system to present an anomalous diffusion. Our arguments lie on the investigation of the electrical conductivity and its relationship with the mean square displacement, which may be used to characterize the ionic motion. In our analysis, the Poisson-Nernst-Planck diffusional model is used with extended boundary conditions to simulate the charge transfer, accumulation, and/or adsorption-desorption at the electrode surfaces.

Diffusion of particles in a heterogeneous system separated by a semipermeable membrane is investigated. The particle dynamics is governed by fractional diffusion equations in the bulk and by kinetic equations on the membrane, which characterizes an interface between two different media. The kinetic equations are solved by incorporating memory effects to account for anomalous diffusion and, consequently, non-Debye relaxations. A rich variety of behaviours for the particle distribution at the interface and in the bulk may be found, depending on the choice of characteristic times in the boundary conditions and on the fractional index of the modelling equations.

We present a generalmodel based on fractional diffusion equation coupled with a kinetic equation through the boundary condition. It covers several scenarios that may be characterized by usual or anomalous diffusion or present relaxation processes on the surface with non-Debye characteristics. A particular case of this model is used to investigate the experimental data obtained from the drug release of the capsaicinoids-loaded Poly (ε-caprolactone) microparticles. These considerations lead us to a good agreement with experimental data and to the conjecture that the burst effect, i.e., an initial large bolus of drug is released before the release rate reaches a stable profile, may be related to an anomalous diffusion manifested by the system.

We report on an extensive characterization of the cracking noise produced by charcoal samples when dampened with ethanol. We argue that the evaporation of ethanol causes transient and irregularly distributed internal stresses that promote the fragmentation of the samples and mimic some situations found in mining processes. The results show that, in general, the most fundamental seismic laws ruling earthquakes (the Gutenberg-Richter law, the unified scaling law for the recurrence times, Omori's law, the productivity law, and Båth's law) hold under the conditions of the experiment. Some discrepancies were also identified (a smaller exponent in the Gutenberg-Richter law, a stationary behavior in the aftershock rates for long times, and a double power-law relationship in the productivity law) and are related to the different loading conditions. Our results thus corroborate and elucidate the parallel between the seismic laws and fracture experiments caused by a more complex loading condition that also occurs in natural and induced seismicity (such as long-term fluid injection and gas-rock outbursts in mining processes).

Stationary and time-dependent solutions of a nonlinear Kramers equation, as well as its associated nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations, are investigated within the context of Tsallis nonextensive statistical mechanics. Since no general analytical time-dependent solutions are found for such a nonlinear Kramers equation, an ansatz is considered and the corresponding asymptotic behavior is studied and compared with those known for the standard linear Kramers equation. The H-theorem is analyzed for this equation and its connection with Tsallis entropy is investigated. An application is discussed, namely the motion of Hydra cells in two-dimensional cellular aggregates, for which previous measurements have verified q-Gaussian distributions for velocity components and superdiffusion. The present analysis is in quantitative agreement with these experimental results.

Photophysics processes are ubiquitous in nature and difficult to be quantitatively characterized by conventional spectroscopy. Alternatively, pump-probe methods have been widely applied to study these complex processes. In this context, the thermal lens technique is a precise spectroscopic tool for material characterization and presents a wide range of applications in chemical analysis. Here, we present an all numerical approach to analyze the dynamics of photophysics processes and to identify the role of individual contributions of photoreaction and mass diffusion in the thermal lens experiments. The results are essential for a proper understanding of the dominant physical mechanisms in laser-induced photodegradation, which allow precise data analysis of the effects in photosensitive fluids.

Understanding the mechanisms and processes underlying the dynamics of collective violence is of considerable current interest. Recent studies indicated the presence of robust patterns characterizing the size and timing of violent events in human conflicts. Since the size and timing of violent events arises as the result of a dynamical process, we explore the possibility of unifying these observations. By analyzing available catalogs on violent events in Iraq (2003-2005), Afghanistan (2008-2010) and Northern Ireland (1969-2001), we show that the inter-event time distributions (calculated for a range of minimum sizes) obeys approximately a simple scaling law which holds for more than three orders of magnitude. This robust pattern suggests a hierarchical organization in size and time providing a unified picture of the dynamics of violent conflicts.

We report on a statistical analysis of the engagement in the electoral processes of all Brazilian cities by considering the number of party memberships and the number of candidates for mayor and councillor. By investigating the relationships between the number of party members and the population of voters, we have found that the functional forms of these relationships are well described by sublinear power laws (allometric scaling) surrounded by a multiplicative log-normal noise. We have observed that this pattern is quite similar to those we previously reported for the relationships between the number of candidates (mayor and councillor) and population of voters [Europhys. Lett. 96, 48001 (2011)], suggesting that similar universal laws may be ruling the engagement in the electoral processes. We also note that the power-law exponents display a clear hierarchy, where the more influential is the political position the smaller is the value of the exponent. We have also investigated the probability distributions of the number of candidates (mayor and councillor), party memberships, and voters. The results indicate that the most influential positions are characterized by distributions with very short tails, while less influential positions display an intermediate power-law decay before showing an exponential-like cutoff. We discuss the possibility that, in addition to the political power of the position, limitations in the number of available seats can also be connected with this changing of behavior. We further believe that our empirical findings point out to an under-representation effect, where the larger the city is, the larger are the obstacles for more individuals to become directly engaged in the electoral process.

We report on the dynamical behavior of defects of strength s=±1/2 in a lyotropic liquid crystal during the annihilation process. By following their positions using time-resolved polarizing microscopy technique, we present statistically significant evidence that the relative velocity between defect pairs is Gaussian distributed, antipersistent, and long-range correlated. We further show that simulations of the Lebwohl-Lasher model reproduce quite well our experimental findings.

The effects of an external force on a diffusive process subjected to a backbone structure are investigated by considering the system governed by a Fokker-Planck equation with drift terms. Our results show an anomalous spreading which may present different diffusive regimes connected to anomalous diffusion and stationary states.

We demonstrate theoretically that the presence of ions in insulating materials such as nematic liquid crystals may be responsible for the dielectric spectroscopy behavior observed experimentally. It is shown that, at low frequencies, an essentially non-Debye relaxation process takes place due to surface effects. This is accomplished by investigating the effects of the adsorption-desorption process on the electrical response of an electrolytic cell when the generation and recombination of ions is present. The adsorption-desorption is governed by a non-usual kinetic equation in order to incorporate memory effects related to a non-Debye relaxation and the roughness of the surface. The analysis is carried out by searching for solutions to the drift-diffusion equation that satisfy the Poisson equation relating the effective electric field to the net charge density. We also discuss the effect of the mobility of the ions, i.e., situations with equal and different diffusion coefficients for positive and negative ions, on the impedance and obtain an exact expression for the admittance. The model is compared with experimental results measured for the impedance of a nematic liquid crystal sample and a very good agreement is obtained.

A wide range of physical and biological systems exhibit complex behaviours characterised by a scale-invariant structure of the fluctuations in their output signals. In the context of plant populations, scaling relationships are typically allometric. In this study, we analysed spatial variation in the size of maize plants (Zea Mays L.) grown in agricultural plots at constant densities and found evidence of scaling in the size fluctuations of plants. The findings indicate that the scaling of the probability distribution of spatial size fluctuation exhibits non-Gaussian behaviour compatible with a Lévy stable process. The scaling relationships were observed for spatial scales spanning three orders of magnitude. These findings should provide additional information for the selection and development of empirically accurate models of pattern formation in plant populations.

We investigate a generalized Langevin equation (GLE) in the presence of an additive noise characterized by the mixture of the usual white noise and an arbitrary one. This scenario lead us to a wide class of diffusive processes, in particular the ones whose noise correlation functions are governed by power laws, exponentials, and Mittag-Leffler functions. The results show the presence of different diffusive regimes related to the spreading of the system. In addition, we obtain a fractional diffusionlike equation from the GLE, confirming the results for long time., (© 2012 American Physical Society)

The contribution of ions to the electrical impedance of an electrolytic cell limited by perfect blocking electrodes is determined by considering the role of the anomalous diffusion process and memory effects. Analytical solutions for fractional diffusion equations together with Poisson's equation relating the effective electric field to the net charge density are found. This procedure allows the construction of general expressions for the electrochemical impedance satisfying the Kramers-Kronig relations when the diffusion of ions in the cell is characterized by the usual, as well as by anomalous, behavior.

We investigate the electrical response of Milli-Q deionized water by using a fractional diffusion equation of distributed order with the interfaces (i.e., the boundary conditions at the electrodes limiting the sample) governed by integrodifferential equations. We also consider that the positive and negative ions have the same mobility and that the electric potential profile across the sample satisfies Poisson's equation. In addition, the good agreement between the experimental data and this approach evidences the presence of anomalous diffusion due to the surface effects in this system.

The electrical response of an electrolytic cell in which the diffusion of mobile ions in the bulk is governed by a fractional diffusion equation of distributed order is analyzed. The boundary conditions at the electrodes limiting the sample are described by an integro-differential equation governing the kinetic at the interface. The analysis is carried out by supposing that the positive and negative ions have the same mobility and that the electric potential profile across the sample satisfies the Poisson's equation. The results cover a rich variety of scenarios, including the ones connected to anomalous diffusion.

We report a statistical analysis of more than eight thousand songs. Specifically, we investigated the probability distribution of the normalized sound amplitudes. Our findings suggest a universal form of distribution that agrees well with a one-parameter stretched Gaussian. We also argue that this parameter can give information on music complexity, and consequently it helps classify songs as well as music genres. Additionally, we present statistical evidence that correlation aspects of the songs are directly related to the non-Gaussian nature of their sound amplitude distributions.

The non-Markovian diffusion of dispersed particles in a semi-infinite cell of an isotropic fluid limited by an adsorbing-desorbing surface is theoretically investigated. The density of dispersed particles in the bulk is a time dependent function and the time dependent density of surface particles is governed by a modified kinetic equation with a time dependent kernel. In this framework, the densities of bulk and surface particles are analytically determined, taking into account the conservation of the number of particles immersed in the sample. This system exhibits anomalous diffusion behavior as well as memory effects in the adsorption-desorption process. The results obtained here are expected to be useful to investigate the adsorption-desorption phenomena of neutral as well as charged particles in an isotropic fluid in contact with a solid substrate when the anomalous diffusion is present.

We obtain exact solutions and the survival probability for a Fokker-Planck equation subjected to the two-dimensional wedge domain. We consider a spatial dependence in the diffusion coefficient and the presence of external forces. The results show an anomalous spreading of the solution and, consequently, a nonusual behavior of the survival probability which can be connected to anomalous diffusion.

A model for the selective adsorption phenomenon in an isotropic liquid accounting for a van der Waals interaction between the ions and the surface is presented, in the framework of the Poisson-Boltzmann theory. The fundamental equations governing the electric field distribution are exactly solved for low and high potential regimes.

Surface effects on a diffusion process governed by a fractional diffusion equation in a confined region with spatial and time dependent boundary conditions are investigated. First, we consider the one-dimensional case with the boundary conditions rho(0,t)=Phi0(t) and rho(a,t)=Phia(t). Subsequently, the two-dimensional case in the cylindrical symmetry with rho(a,theta,t)=Phia(theta,t) and rho(b,theta,t)=Phib(theta,t) is investigated. For these cases, we also obtain exact solutions for an arbitrary initial condition by using the Green's function approach.

The adsorption-desorption phenomenon of neutral particles dissolved in an isotropic fluid is investigated by using a nonsingular kernel in the kinetic equation at the limiting surfaces. To account for the relevance of a memory effect, three types of kernels in the kinetic equation are considered. Similar kernels have been used to investigate nonexponential relaxation including several contexts such as dielectric relaxation, diffusion-controlled relaxation in liquids, liquid crystals, and amorphous polymers. A suitable choice for a temporal kernel can account for the relative importance of physisorption or chemisorption, according to the time scale governing the adsorption phenomena, and can be the key mechanism to understand the specific roles of both processes. By using a general procedure, the time evolution of the density of particles is determined in closed analytical form. The analysis is relevant in the description of the adsorption phenomena in general.

We obtain a formal solution for a large class of diffusion equations with a spatial kernel dependence in the diffusive term. The presence of this kernel represents a nonlocal dependence of the diffusive process and, by a suitable choice, it has the spatial fractional diffusion equations as a particular case. We also consider the presence of a linear external force and source terms. In addition, we show that a rich class of anomalous diffusion, e.g., the Lévy superdiffusion, can be obtained by an appropriated choice of kernel.

We investigate a finite chain approximation, the non-Gaussian Tsallis distribution, to the polymeric network, which gives an improvement to the Gaussian model. This distribution presents some necessary characteristics, like a cutoff to the maximum chain length and a continuous limit to the Gaussian one for a large number of monomers. It also presents a simple quadratic structure that allows to generalize the Gaussian properties such as exact-moments calculation and Wick theorem. We obtain the free-energy density in its full tensorial structure.

We investigate the solutions and first passage time distribution for an anomalous diffusion process governed by a generalized non-Markovian Fokker-Planck equation. In our analysis, we also consider the presence of external forces and absorbent (source) terms. In addition, we show that a rich class of diffusive processes, including normal and anomalous ones, can be obtained from the solutions found here.

The exact dynamical evolution of the director field for splay-bend deformations, in nematic liquid crystal samples limited by inhomogeneous surfaces, is determined in the one-constant approximation. The initial conditions and boundary-value problem concerning the situation of strong anchoring at the surfaces of a sample of slab shape of thickness d is analytically solved in the presence of a time dependent external electric field, and taking into account the viscous torque. The results are used to analytically obtain the time dependence of the phase shift between the two components of a linearly polarized beam impinging perpendicularly on the sample. The analysis can be relevant to investigate the phase retardation of a nematic cell submitted to an external voltage which is lower than or in the order of the Féedericksz threshold to induce deformations in the sample.

In this work we present the logarithmic diffusion equation as a limit case when the index that characterizes a nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation, in its diffusive term, goes to zero. A linear drift and a source term are considered in this equation. Its solution has a Lorentzian form, consequently this equation characterizes a superdiffusion like a Lévy kind. In addition an equation that unifies the porous media and the logarithmic diffusion equations, including a generalized diffusion equation in fractal dimension, is obtained. This unification is performed in the nonextensive thermostatistics context and increases the possibilities about the description of anomalous diffusive processes.

We consider the time-fractional diffusion equation with time dependent diffusion coefficient given by (O)O(alpha)(C)(t) W (x,t) = D(alpha,gamma)(t)(gamma) [theta(2) W (x,t) /theta x(2)], where O is the Caputo operator. We investigate its solutions in the infinite and the finite domains. The mean squared displacement and the mean first passage time are also considered. In particular, for alpha = 0 , the mean squared displacement is given by approximately t(gamma) and we verify that the mean first passage time is finite for superdiffusive regimes.

We investigate an N-dimensional fractional diffusion equation with radial symmetry by using the Green function approach. We consider, in our analysis, the spatial dependence on the diffusion coefficient and the presence of an external force. In particular, we employ boundary conditions in a finite interval and after we extend it to a semi-infinite interval. We also show that a rich class of diffusive processes, including normal and anomalous ones, can be obtained from the solutions found here.

We investigate the solutions and the first passage time for anomalous diffusion processes governed by the usual diffusion equation. We consider a space- and time-dependent diffusion coefficient and the presence of absorbing boundaries. We obtain analytical results for the probability distribution and the first passage time distribution for finite and semi-infinite intervals. In addition, we compare our results for the first passage time distribution with the one obtained by the usual diffusion equation with constant diffusion coefficient.

We investigate one-dimensional equations for the diffusion with a nonconstant diffusion coefficient inside the second derivative and between the derivatives. In particular, we employ the diffusion coefficient D(x) proportional to /x/(-theta)(theta in R) and a quartic potential. These diffusion equations present a rich variety of behaviors associated with different regimes. Results of two approaches are analyzed and compared. We also investigate the mean first passage time of these systems. We show that the system with the coefficient D(x) between the derivatives can produce different behaviors for the mean first passage time in comparison with those obtained by the system with the coefficient inside the derivatives.

We analyze a nonlinear fractional diffusion equation with absorption by employing fractional spatial derivatives and obtain some more exact classes of solutions. In particular, the diffusion equation employed here extends some known diffusion equations such as the porous medium equation and the thin film equation. We also discuss some implications by considering a diffusion coefficient D(x,t)=D(t)/x/(-theta) (theta in R) and a drift force F=-k(1)(t)x+k(alpha)x/x/(alpha-1). In both situations, we relate our solutions to those obtained within the maximum entropy principle by using the Tsallis entropy.

Ubiquitous phenomena exist in nature where, as time goes on, a crossover is observed between different diffusion regimes (e.g., anomalous diffusion at early times which becomes normal diffusion at long times, or the other way around). In order to focus on such situations we have analyzed particular relevant cases of the generalized Fokker-Planck equation integral dgamma(')tau(gamma('))[ partial differential (gamma('))rho(x,t)]/ partial differential t(gamma('))= integral dmu(')dnu'D(mu('),nu('))[ partial differential (mu('))[rho(x,t)](nu('))]/ partial differential x(mu(')), where tau(gamma(')) and D(mu('),nu(')) are kernels to be chosen; the choice tau(gamma('))=delta(gamma(')-1) and D(mu('),nu('))=delta(mu(')-2)delta(nu(')-1) recovers the normal diffusion equation. We discuss in detail the following cases: (i) a mixture of the porous medium equation, which is connected with nonextensive statistical mechanics, with the normal diffusion equation; (ii) a mixture of the fractional time derivative and normal diffusion equations; (iii) a mixture of the fractional space derivative, which is related with Lévy flights, and normal diffusion equations. In all three cases a crossover is obtained between anomalous and normal diffusions. In cases (i) and (iii), the less diffusive regime occurs for short times, while at long times the more diffusive regime emerges. The opposite occurs in case (ii). The present results could be easily extended to more complex situations (e.g., crossover between two, or even more, different anomalous regimes), and are expected to be useful in the analysis of phenomena where nonlinear and fractional diffusion equations play an important role. Such appears to be the case for isolated long-ranged interaction Hamiltonians, which along time can exhibit a crossover from a longstanding metastable anomalous state to the usual Boltzmann-Gibbs equilibrium one. Another illustration of such crossover occurs in active intracellular transport.

An N-dimensional nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation is investigated here by considering the time dependence of the coefficients, where drift-controlled and source terms are present. We exhibit the exact solution based on the generalized Gaussian function related to the Tsallis statistics. Furthermore, we show that a rich class of diffusive processes, including normal and anomalous ones, can be obtained by changing the time dependence of the coefficients.

In this work we incorporate, in a unified way, two anomalous behaviors, the power law and stretched exponential ones, by considering the radial dependence of the N-dimensional nonlinear diffusion equation partial differential rho/ partial differential t=nabla.(Knablarho(nu))-nabla.(muFrho)-alpharho, where K=Dr(-theta), nu, theta, mu, and D are real parameters, F is the external force, and alpha is a time-dependent source. This equation unifies the O'Shaughnessy-Procaccia anomalous diffusion equation on fractals (nu=1) and the spherical anomalous diffusion for porous media (theta=0). An exact spherical symmetric solution of this nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation is obtained, leading to a large class of anomalous behaviors. Stationary solutions for this Fokker-Planck-like equation are also discussed by introducing an effective potential.

In the non-extensive Tsallis scenario, Page's conjecture for the average entropy of a subsystem [Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1291 (1993)] as well as its demonstration are generalized, i.e., when a pure quantum system, whose Hilbert space dimension is mn, is considered, the average Tsallis entropy of an m-dimensional subsystem is obtained. This demonstration is expected to be useful to study systems where the usual entropy does not give satisfactory results.

Usually, the studies of distributions of city populations have been reduced to power laws. In such analyses, a common practice is to consider cities with more than one hundred thousand inhabitants. Here, we argue that the distribution of cities for all ranges of populations can be well described by using a q-exponential distribution. This function, which reproduces the Zipf-Mandelbrot law, is related to the generalized nonextensive statistical mechanics and satisfies an anomalous decay equation.

We investigate the escape behavior of systems governed by the one-dimensional nonlinear diffusion equation theta(t)rho=theta(x)[theta(x)Urho]+Dtheta(x)2rho(nu), where the potential of the drift, U(x), presents a double well and D,nu are real parameters. For systems close to the steady state, we obtain an analytical expression of the mean first-passage time, yielding a generalization of Arrhenius law. Analytical predictions are in very good agreement with numerical experiments performed through integration of the associated Ito-Langevin equation. For nu not equal to 1, important anomalies are detected in comparison to the standard Brownian case. These results are compared to those obtained numerically for initial conditions far from the steady state.

The nonlinear diffusion equation partial delta rho/delta t=D Delta rho(nu) is analyzed here, where Delta[triple bond](1/r(d-1))(delta/delta r)r(d-1-theta) delta/delta r, and d, theta, and nu are real parameters. This equation unifies the anomalous diffusion equation on fractals (nu=1) and the spherical anomalous diffusion for porous media (theta=0). An exact point-source solution is obtained, enabling us to describe a large class of subdiffusion [ theta>(1-nu)d], "normal" diffusion [theta=(1-nu)d] and superdiffusion [theta<(1-nu)d]. Furthermore, a thermostatistical basis for this solution is given from the maximum entropic principle applied to the Tsallis entropy.