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We study the two-dimensional Langevin dynamics of a two-component system, whose components are in contact with heat baths kept at different temperatures. Dynamics is constrained by an optical trap and the \text{dissimilar} species interact via a quadratic potential. We realize that the system evolves towards a peculiar non-equilibrium steady-state with a non-zero probability current possessing a non-zero curl, such that the randomly moving particles are spinning around themselves, like "spinning top" toys. Our analysis shows that the spinning motion is correlated and also reveals an emerging cooperative behavior of the spatial components of the probability currents of dissimilar species., Comment: 24 pages, 7 Figures

We study the long-time asymptotical behavior of the survival probability P_t of a tagged monomer of an infinitely long Rouse chain in presence of two fixed absorbing boundaries, placed at x = \pm L. Mean-square displacement of a tagged monomer obeys \bar{X^2(t)} \sim t^{1/2} at all times, which signifies that its dynamics is an anomalous diffusion process. Constructing lower and upper bounds on P_t, which have the same time-dependence but slightly differ by numerical factors in the definition of the characteristic relaxation time, we show that P_t is a stretched-exponential function of time, \ln(P_t) \sim - t^{1/2}/L^2. This implies that the distribution function of the first exit time from a fixed interval [-L,L] for such an anomalous diffusion has all moments., Comment: 6 pages, submitted to EPL

We study the long-time behavior of the probability density Q_t of the first exit time from a bounded interval [-L,L] for a stochastic non-Markovian process h(t) describing fluctuations at a given point of a two-dimensional, infinite in both directions Gaussian interface. We show that Q_t decays when t \to \infty as a power-law $^{-1 - \alpha}, where \alpha is non-universal and proportional to the ratio of the thermal energy and the elastic energy of a fluctuation of size L. The fact that \alpha appears to be dependent on L, which is rather unusual, implies that the number of existing moments of Q_t depends on the size of the window [-L,L]. A moment of an arbitrary order n, as a function of L, exists for sufficiently small L, diverges when L approaches a certain threshold value L_n, and does not exist for L > L_n. For L > L_1, the probability density Q_t is normalizable but does not have moments., Comment: 10 pages

In this paper we study a catalytically-activated A + A \to 0 reaction taking place on a one-dimensional regular lattice which is brought in contact with a reservoir of A particles. The A particles have a hard-core and undergo continuous exchanges with the reservoir, adsorbing onto the lattice or desorbing back to the reservoir. Some lattice sites possess special, catalytic properties, which induce an immediate reaction between two neighboring A particles as soon as at least one of them lands onto a catalytic site. We consider three situations for the spatial placement of the catalytic sites: regular, annealed random and quenched random. For all these cases we derive exact results for the partition function, and the disorder-averaged pressure per lattice site. We also present exact asymptotic results for the particles' mean density and the system's compressibility. The model studied here furnishes another example of a 1D Ising-type system with random multisite interactions which admits an exact solution., Comment: 41 pages, AmsTex

In this presentation we overview some recent results on biased tracer diffusion in lattice gases. We consider both models in which the gas particles density is explicitly conserved and situations in which the lattice gas particles undergo continuous exchanges with a reservoir, which case is appropriate, e.g., to adsorbed monolayers in contact with the vapor phase. For all these models we determine, in some cases exactly and in other ones - using a certain decoupling approximation, the mean displacement of a tracer particle (TP) driven by a constant external force in a dynamical background formed by the lattice gas particles whose transition rates are symmetric. Evaluating the TP mean displacement explicitly we are able to define the TP mobility, which allows us to demonstrate that the Einstein relation between the TP mobility and the diffusivity generally holds, despite the fact that in some cases diffusion is anomalous. For models treated within the framework of the decoupling approximation, our analytical results are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations. Perturbance of the lattice gas particles distribution due to the presence of a biased TP and the form of the particle density profiles are also discussed., Comment: refs added + minor changes, to appear in: Instabilities and Non-Equilibrium Structures IX, eds.: E.Tirapegui and O.Descalzi, (Kluwer Academic Pub., Dordrecht), february 2003

We study dynamics of a probe particle, which performs biased diffusive motion in a one-dimensional adsorbed monolayer of mobile hard-core particles undergoing continuous exchanges with a vapor phase. In terms of a mean-field-type approach, based on the decoupling of the third-order correlation functions into a product of the pairwise correlations, we determine analytically the density profiles of the monolayer particles, as seen from the stationary moving probe, and calculate the terminal velocity, mobility and the self-diffusion coefficient of the probe. Our analytical results are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations., Comment: Latex, 16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Stat. Phys

We study the direct incoherent energy transfer from an immobile excited donor molecule to acceptor molecules, which are all attached to polymer chains, randomly arranged in a viscous solvent. The decay forms are found explicitly, in terms of an optimal-fluctuation method, for arbitrary conformations of polymers., Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, 1 Postscript figure, to appear in the proceedings of EXCON'96

International audience; We summarise different results on the diffusion of a tracer particle in lattice gases of hard-core particles with stochastic dynamics, which are confined to narrow channels—single-files, comb-like structures and quasi-one-dimensional channels with the width equal to several particle diameters. We show that in such geometries a surprisingly rich, sometimes even counter-intuitive, behaviour emerges, which is absent in unbounded systems. This is well-documented for the anomalous diffusion in single-files. Less known is the anomalous dynamics of a tracer particle in crowded branching single-files—comb-like structures, where several kinds of anomalous regimes take place. In narrow channels, which are broader than single-files, one encounters a wealth of anomalous behaviours in the case where the tracer particle is subject to a regular external bias: here, one observes an anomaly in the temporal evolution of the tracer particle velocity, super-diffusive at transient stages, and ultimately a giant diffusive broadening of fluctuations in the position of the tracer particle, as well as spectacular multi-tracer effects of self-clogging of narrow channels. Interactions between a biased tracer particle and a confined crowded environment also produce peculiar patterns in the out-of-equilibrium distribution of the environment particles, very different from the ones appearing in unbounded systems. For moderately dense systems, a surprising effect of a negative differential mobility takes place, such that the velocity of a biased tracer particle can be a non-monotonic function of the force. In some parameter ranges, both the velocity and the diffusion coefficient of a biased tracer particle can be non-monotonic functions of the density. We also survey different results obtained for a tracer particle diffusion in unbounded systems, which will permit a reader to have an exhaustively broad picture of the tracer diffusion in crowded environments.

The use of ultra-thin, i.e., monolayer films plays an important role for the emerging field of nano-fluidics. Since the dynamics of such films is governed by the interplay between substrate-fluid and fluid-fluid interactions, the transport of matter in nanoscale devices may be eventually efficiently controlled by substrate engineering. For such films, the dynamics is expected to be captured by two-dimensional lattice-gas models with interacting particles. Using a lattice gas model and the non-linear diffusion equation derived from the microscopic dynamics in the continuum limit, we study two problems of relevance in the context of nano-fluidics. The first one is the case in which along the spreading direction of a monolayer a mesoscopic-sized obstacle is present, with a particular focus on the relaxation of the fluid density profile upon encountering and passing the obstacle. The second one is the mixing of two monolayers of different particle species which spread side by side following the merger of two chemical lanes, here defined as domains of high affinity for fluid adsorption surrounded by domains of low affinity for fluid adsorption., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures

The spontaneous spreading of non-volatile liquid droplets on solid substrates poses a classic problem in the context of wetting phenomena. It is well known that the spreading of a macroscopic droplet is in many cases accompanied by a thin film of macroscopic lateral extent, the so-called precursor film, which emanates from the three-phase contact line region and spreads ahead of the latter with a much higher speed. Such films have been usually associated with liquid-on-solid systems, but in the last decade similar films have been reported to occur in solid-on-solid systems. While the situations in which the thickness of such films is of mesoscopic size are rather well understood, an intriguing and yet to be fully understood aspect is the spreading of microscopic, i.e., molecularly thin films. Here we review the available experimental observations of such films in various liquid-on-solid and solid-on-solid systems, as well as the corresponding theoretical models and studies aimed at understanding their formation and spreading dynamics. Recent developments and perspectives for future research are discussed., Comment: 51 pages, 10 figures; small typos corrected

We study the equilibrium properties of a lattice-gas model of an $A + B \to 0$ catalytic reaction on a one-dimensional chain in contact with a reservoir for the particles. The particles of species $A$ and $B$ are in thermal contact with their vapor phases acting as reservoirs, i.e., they may adsorb onto empty lattice sites and may desorb from the lattice. If adsorbed $A$ and $B$ particles appear at neighboring lattice sites they instantaneously react and both desorb. For this model of a catalytic reaction in the adsorption-controlled limit, we derive analytically the expression of the pressure and present exact results for the mean densities of particles and for the compressibilities of the adsorbate as function of the chemical potentials of the two species., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. E