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We determine distributions and correlation properties of offshore wind speeds and wind speed increments by analyzing wind data sampled with a resolution of one second for 20 months at different heights above sea level in the North Sea. Distributions of horizontal wind speeds can be fitted to Weibull distributions with shape and scale parameters varying weakly with the vertical height separation. Kullback-Leibler divergences between distributions at different heights change with the squared logarithm of the height ratio. Cross-correlations between time derivatives of wind speeds are long-term anticorrelated, and the even parts of their correlation functions satisfy sum rules. Distributions of horizontal wind speed increments change from a tent-like shape to a Gaussian with rising increment lag. A surprising peak occurs in the left tail of the increment distributions for lags in a range $10-200\,{\rm km}$ after applying the Taylor's hypothesis locally to transform time lags into distances. The peak is decisive in order to obtain an expected and observed linear scaling of third-order structure functions with distance. This suggests that it is an intrinsic feature of atmospheric turbulence., Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures

We present an efficient method to perform overdamped Brownian dynamics simulations in external force fields and for particle interactions that include a hardcore part. The method applies to particle motion in one dimension, where it is possible to update particle positions by repositioning particle clusters as a whole. These clusters consist of several particles in contact. They form because particle collisions are treated as completely inelastic rather than elastic ones. Updating of cluster positions in time steps is carried out by cluster fragmentation and merging procedures. The presented method is particularly powerful at high collision rates in densely crowded systems, where collective movements of particle assemblies is governing the dynamics. As an application, we simulate the single-file diffusion of sticky hard spheres in a periodic potential., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures

Transport processes in crowded periodic structures are often mediated by cooperative movements of particles forming clusters. Recent theoretical and experimental studies of driven Brownian motion of hard spheres showed that cluster-mediated transport in one-dimensional periodic potentials can proceed in form of solitary waves. We here give a comprehensive description of these solitons. Fundamental for our analysis is a static presoliton state, which is formed by a periodic arrangement of basic stable clusters. Their size follows from a geometric principle of minimum free space. Adding one particle to the presoliton state gives rise to solitons. We derive the minimal number of particles needed for soliton formation, number of solitons at larger particle numbers, soliton velocities and soliton-mediated particle currents. Incomplete relaxations of the basic clusters are responsible for an effective repulsive soliton-soliton interaction seen in measurements. A dynamical phase transition is predicted to occur in current-density relations at low temperatures. Our results provide a theoretical basis for describing experiments on cluster-mediated particle transport in periodic potentials., Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures

We show that domain walls separating coexisting extremal current phases in driven diffusive systems exhibit complex stochastic dynamics, with a subdiffusive temporal growth of position fluctuations due to long-range anticorrelated current fluctuations and a weak pinning at long times. This weak pinning manifests itself in a saturated width of the domain wall position fluctuations that increases sublinearly with the system size. As a function of time $t$ and system size $L$, the width $w(t,L)$ exhibits a scaling behavior $w(t,L)=L^{3/4}f(t/L^{9/4})$, with $f(u)$ constant for $u\gg1$ and $f(u)\sim u^{1/3}$ for $u\ll1$. An Orstein-Uhlenbeck process with long-range anticorrelated noise is shown to capture this scaling behavior. Results for the drift coefficient of the domain wall motion point to memory effects in its dynamics., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures plus 6 pages supplemental material with 3 figures

Single-file transport occurs in various scientific fields, including diffusion through nanopores, nanofluidic devices, and cellular processes. We here investigate the impact of polydispersity on particle currents for single-file Brownian motion of hard spheres, when they are driven through periodic potentials by a constant drag force. Through theoretical analysis and extensive Brownian dynamics simulations, we unveil the behavior of particle currents for random binary mixtures. The particle currents show a recurring pattern in dependence of the hard-sphere diameters and mixing ratio. We explain this recurrent behavior by showing that a basic unit cell exists in the space of the two hard-sphere diameters. Once the behavior of an observable inside the unit cell is determined, it can be inferred for any diameter. The overall variation of particle currents with the mixing ratio and hard-sphere diameters is reflected by their variation in the limit where the system is fully covered by hard spheres. In this limit, the currents can be predicted analytically. Our analysis explains the occurrence of pronounced maxima and minima of the currents by changes of an effective potential barrier for the center-of-mass motion., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

Single-file diffusion refers to the Brownian motion in narrow channels where particles cannot pass each other. In such processes, the diffusion of a tagged particle is typically normal at short times and becomes subdiffusive at long times. For hard-sphere interparticle interaction, the time-dependent mean squared displacement of a tracer is well understood. Here we develop a scaling theory for adhesive particles. It provides a full description of the time-dependent diffusive behavior with a scaling function that depends on an effective strength of adhesive interaction. Particle clustering induced by the adhesive interaction slows down the diffusion at short times, while it enhances subdiffusion at long times. The enhancement effect can be quantified in measurements irrespective of how tagged particles are injected into the system. Combined effects of pore structure and particle adhesiveness should speed up translocation of molecules through narrow pores., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures plus 4 pages, 3 figures in SM

We propose a simulation method for Brownian dynamics of hard rods in one dimension for arbitrary continuous external force fields. It is an event-driven procedure based on the fragmentation and mergers of clusters formed by particles in contact. It allows one to treat particle interactions in addition to the hard-sphere exclusion as long as the corresponding interaction forces are continuous functions of the particle coordinates. We furthermore develop a treatment of sticky hard spheres as described by Baxter's contact interaction potential., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures

The flow-driven transport of interacting micron-sized particles occurs in many soft matter systems spanning from the translocation of proteins to moving emulsions in microfluidic devices. Here we combine experiments and theory to investigate the collective transport properties of colloidal particles along a rotating ring of optical traps. In the co-rotating reference frame, the particles are driven by a vortex flow of the surrounding fluid. When increasing the depth of the optical potential, we observe a jamming behavior that manifests itself in a strong reduction of the current with increasing particle density. We show that this jamming is caused by hydrodynamic interactions that enhance the energetic barriers between the optical traps. This leads to a transition from an over- to an under-critical tilting of the potential in the corotating frame. Based on analytical considerations, the enhancement effect is estimated to increase with increasing particle size or decreasing radius of the ring of traps. Measurements for different ring radii and Stokesian dynamics simulations for corresponding particle sizes confirm this. The enhancement of potential barriers in the flow-driven system is contrasted to the reduction of barriers in a force-driven one. This diverse behavior demonstrates that hydrodynamic interactions can have a very different impact on the collective dynamics of many-body systems. Applications to soft matter and biological systems require careful consideration of the driving mechanism and of the role of hydrodynamic interactions., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures

We present a theory for analyzing residence times of single molecules in a fixed detection area of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The approach is developed for one-dimensional molecule diffusion and can be extended to two dimensions by using the same methodology. Explicit results are derived for an harmonic attractive and repulsive tip-molecule interaction. Applications of the theory allows one to estimate the type and strength of interactions between the STM tip and the molecule. This includes the possibility of an estimation of molecule-molecule interaction when the tip is decorated by a molecule. Despite our focus on STM, this theory can analogously be applied to other experimental probes that monitor single molecules., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

Solitons are commonly known as waves that propagate without dispersion. Here we show that they can occur for driven overdamped Brownian dynamics of hard spheres in periodic potentials at high densities. The solitons manifest themselves as periodic sequences of different assemblies of particles moving in the limit of zero noise, where transport of single particles is not possible. They give rise to particle currents at even low temperature that appear in band-like structures around certain hard-sphere diameters. At high temperatures, the band-like structures are washed out by the noise, but the particle transport is still dominated by the solitons. All these predicted features should occur in a broad class of periodic systems and are amenable to experimental tests., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures plus supplemental material with 7 pages and 1 figure; 5 ancillary movie files

We analyze offshore wind speeds with a time resolution of one second over a long period of 20 months for different heights above the sea level. Energy spectra extending over more than seven decades give a comprehensive picture of wind fluctuations, including intermittency effects at small length scales and synoptic weather phenomena at large scales. The spectra $S(f)$ show a scaling behavior consistent with three-dimensional turbulence at high frequencies $f$, followed by a regime at lower frequencies, where $fS(f)$ varies weakly. Lowering the frequency below a crossover frequency $f_{\rm\scriptscriptstyle 2D}$, a rapid rise of $fS(f)$ occurs. An analysis of the third-order structure function $D_3(\tau)$ of wind speed differences for a given time lag $\tau$ shows a rapid change from negative to positive values of $D_3(\tau)$ at $\tau\simeq 1/f_{\rm\scriptscriptstyle 2D}$. Remarkably, after applying Taylor's hypothesis locally, we find the third-order structure function to exhibit a behavior very similar to that obtained previously from aircraft measurements at much higher altitudes in the atmosphere. In particular, the third-order structure function grows linearly with the separation distance for negative $D_3$, and with the third power for positive $D_3$. This allows us to estimate energy and enstrophy dissipation rates for offshore wind. The crossover from negative to positive values occurs at about the same separation distance of 400 km as found from the aircraft measurements, suggesting that this length is independent of the altitude in the atmosphere., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

In crowded systems, particle currents can be mediated by propagating collective excitations which are generated as rare events, are localized and have a finite lifetime. The theoretical description of such excitations is hampered by the problem of identifying complex many-particle transition states, calculation of their free energies, and the evaluation of propagation mechanisms and velocities. Here we show that these problems can be tackled for a highly jammed system of hard spheres in a periodic potential. We derive generation rates of collective excitations, their anomalously high velocities, explain the occurrence of an apparent jamming transition and its strong dependence on the system size. The particle currents follow a scaling behavior, where for small systems the current is proportional to the generation rate and for large systems given by the geometric mean of the generation rate and velocity. Our theoretical approach is widely applicable to dense nonequilibrium systems in confined geometries. It provides new perspectives for studying dynamics of collective excitations in experiments., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures

For ion transport in network glasses, it is a great challenge to predict conductivities specifically based on structural properties. To this end it is necessary to gain an understanding of the energy landscape where the thermally activated hopping motion of the ions takes place. For alkali borophosphate glasses, a statistical mechanical approach was suggested to predict essential characteristics of the distribution of energies at the residence sites of the mobile alkali ions. The corresponding distribution of site energies was derived from the chemical units forming the glassy network. A hopping model based on the site energy landscape allowed to model the change of conductivity activation energies with the borate to phosphate mixing ratio. Here we refine and extend this general approach to cope with minimal local activation barriers and to calculate dc-conductivities without the need of performing extensive Monte-Carlo simulations. This calculation relies on the mapping of the many-body ion dynamics onto a network of local conductances derived from the elementary jump rates of the mobile ions. Application of the theoretical modelling to three series of alkali borophosphate glasses with the compositions $0.33$Li$_2$O$-0.67$[$x$B$_2$O$_3$-$(1\!-\!x)$P$_2$O$_5$], $0.35$Na$_2$O$-0.65$[$x$B$_2$O$_3$-$(1\!-\!x)$P$_2$O$_5$] and $0.4$Na$_2$O$-0.6$[$x$B$_2$O$_3$-$(1\!-\!x)$P$_2$O$_5$] shows good agreement with experimental data., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures

Hydrodynamic interactions between fluid-dispersed particles are ubiquitous in soft matter and biological systems and they give rise to intriguing collective phenomena. While it was reported that these interactions can facilitate force-driven particle motion over energetic barriers, here we show the opposite effect in a flow-driven system, i.e. that hydrodynamic interactions hinder transport across barriers. We demonstrate this result by combining experiments and theory. In the experiments, we drive colloidal particles using rotating optical traps, thus creating a vortex flow in the corotating reference frame. We observe a jamming-like decrease of particle currents with density for large barriers between traps. The theoretical model shows that this jamming arises from hydrodynamic interactions between the particles. The impact of hydrodynamic interactions is reversed compared to force-driven motion, suggesting that our findings are a generic feature of flow-driven transport.

Single-file transport in pore-like structures constitute an important topic for both theory and experiment. For hardcore interacting particles, a good understanding of the collective dynamics has been achieved recently. Here we study how softness in the particle interaction affects the emergent transport behavior. To this end, we investigate the driven Brownian motion of particles in a periodic potential. The particles interact via a repulsive softcore potential with a shape corresponding to a smoothed rectangular barrier. This shape allows us to elucidate effects of mutual particle penetration and particle crossing in a controlled manner. We find that even weak deviations from the hardcore case can have a strong impact on the particle current. Despite this fact, the knowledge about the transport in a corresponding hardcore system is shown to be useful to describe and interpret our findings for the softcore case. This is achieved by assigning a thermodynamic effective size to the particles based on the equilibrium density functional of hard spheres., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures

A major challenge in the modeling of ionically conducting glasses is to understand how the large variety of possible chemical compositions and specific structural properties influence ionic transport quantities. Here we revisit and extend a theoretical approach for alkali borophosphate glasses, where changes of conductivity activation energies with the borate to phosphate mixing ratio are related to modifications of the ionic site energy landscape. The landscape modifications are caused by varying amounts of different units forming the glassy network, which lead to spatial redistributions of the counter-charges of the mobile alkali ions. Theoretical approaches are presented to calculate variations of both network former unit concentrations and activation energies with the glass composition. Applications to several alkali borophosphate glasses show good agreement with experimental data., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures

Molecular self-assembly on surfaces constitutes a powerful method for creating tailor-made surface structures with dedicated functionalities. Varying the intermolecular interactions allows for tuning the resulting molecular structures in a rational fashion. So far, however, the discussion of the involved intermolecular interactions is often limited to attractive forces only. In real systems, the intermolecular interaction can be composed of both, attractive and repulsive forces. Adjusting the balance between these interactions provides a promising strategy for extending the structural variety in molecular self-assembly on surfaces. This strategy, however, relies on a method to quantify the involved interactions. Here, we investigate a molecular model system of 3-hydroxybenzoic acid molecules on calcite (10.4) in ultrahigh vacuum. This system offers both anisotropic short-range attraction and long-range repulsion between the molecules, resulting in the self-assembly of molecular stripes. We analyze the stripe-to-stripe distance distribution and the stripe length distribution and compare these distributions with analytical expressions from an anisotropic Ising model with additional repulsive interaction. We show that this approach allows to extract quantitative information about the strength of the attractive and repulsive interactions. Our work demonstrates how the detailed analysis of the self-assembled structures can be used to obtain quantitative insight into the molecule-molecule interactions., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures

Recent measurements of durations of non-equilibrium processes provide valuable information on microscopic mechanisms and energetics. Comprehensive theory for corresponding experiments so far is well developed for single-particle systems only. Little is known for interacting systems in non-equilibrium environments. Here, we introduce and study a basic model for cycle processes interacting with an environment that can exhibit a net particle flow. We find a surprising richness of cycle time variations with environmental conditions. This manifests itself in unequal cycle times $\tau^+$ and $\tau^-$ in forward and backward cycle direction with both asymmetries $\tau^-<\tau^+$ and $\tau^->\tau^+$, speeding up of backward cycles by interactions, and dynamical phase transitions, where cycle times become multimodal functions of the bias. The model allows us to relate these effects to specific microscopic mechanisms, which can be helpful for interpreting experiments., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures

We derive an exact expression for the probability density of work done on a particle that diffuses in a parabolic potential with a stiffness varying by an arbitrary piecewise constant protocol. Based on this result, the work distribution for time-continuous protocols of the stiffness can be determined up to any degree of accuracy. This is achieved by replacing the continuous driving by a piecewise constant one with a number $n$ of positive or negative steps of increasing or decreasing stiffness. With increasing $n$, the work distributions for the piecewise protocols approach that for the continuous protocol. The moment generating function of the work is given by the inverse square root of a polynomial of degree $n$, whose coefficients are efficiently calculated from a recurrence relation. The roots of the polynomials are real and positive (negative) steps of the protocol are associated with negative (positive) roots. Using these properties the inverse Laplace transform of the moment generating function is carried out explicitly. Fluctuation theorems are used to derive further properties of the polynomials and their roots., Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures

Driven diffusive systems constitute paradigmatic models of nonequilibrium physics. Among them, a driven lattice gas known as the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) is the most prominent example for which many intriguing exact results have been obtained. After summarizing key findings, including the mapping of the ASEP to quantum spin chains, we discuss the recently introduced Brownian asymmetric simple exclusion process (BASEP) as a related class of driven diffusive system with continuous space dynamics. In the BASEP, driven Brownian motion of hardcore-interacting particles through one-dimensional periodic potentials is considered. We study whether current-density relations of the BASEP can be considered as generic for arbitrary periodic potentials and whether repulsive particle interactions other than hardcore lead to similar results. Our findings suggest that shapes of current-density relations are generic for single-well periodic potentials and can always be attributed to the interplay of a barrier reduction, blocking and exchange symmetry effect. This implies that in general up to five different phases of nonequilibrium steady states are possible for such potentials. The phases can occur in systems coupled to particle reservoirs, where the bulk density is the order parameter. For multiple-well periodic potentials, more complex current-density relations are possible and more phases can appear. Taking a repulsive Yukawa potential as an example, we show that the effects of barrier reduction and blocking on the current are also present. The exchange symmetry effect requires hardcore interactions and we demonstrate that it can still be identified when hardcore interactions are combined with weak Yukawa interactions., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures

Stochastic feed-in of fluctuating renewable energies is steadily increasing in modern electricity grids and this becomes an important risk factor for maintaining power grid stability. Here we study the impact of wind power feed-in on the short-term frequency fluctuations in power grids based on an IEEE test grid structure, the swing equation for the dynamics of voltage phase angles, and a series of measured wind speed data. External control measures are accounted for by adjusting the grid state to the average power feed-in on a time scale of one minute. The wind power is injected at a single node by replacing one of the conventional generator nodes in the test grid by a wind farm. We determine histograms of local frequencies for a large number of one-minute wind speed sequences taken from the measured data and for different injection nodes. These histograms exhibit a common type of shape, which can be described by a Gaussian distribution for small frequencies and a nearly exponentially decaying tail part. Non-Gaussian features become particularly pronounced for wind power injection at locations, which are weakly connected to the main grid structure. This effect is only present when taking into account the heterogeneities in transmission line and node properties of the grid, while it disappears upon homogenizing of these features. The standard deviation of the frequency fluctuations increases linearly with the average injected wind power., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

Single-file Brownian motion in periodic structures is an important process in nature and technology, which becomes increasingly amenable for experimental investigation under controlled conditions. To explore and understand generic features of this motion, the Brownian asymmetric simple exclusion process (BASEP) was recently introduced. The BASEP refers to diffusion models, where hard spheres are driven by a constant drag force through a periodic potential. Here, we derive general properties of the rich collective dynamics in the BASEP. Average currents in the steady state change dramatically with the particle size and density. For an open system coupled to particle reservoirs, extremal current principles predict various nonequilibrium phases, which we verify by Brownian dynamics simulations. For general pair interactions we discuss connections to single-file transport by traveling-wave potentials and prove the impossibility of current reversals in systems driven by a constant drag and by traveling waves., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures

In future power systems, electrical storage will be the key technology for balancing feed-in fluctuations. With increasing share of renewables and reduction of system inertia, the focus of research expands towards short-term grid dynamics and collective phenomena. Against this backdrop, Kuramoto-like power grids have been established as a sound mathematical modeling framework bridging between the simplified models from nonlinear dynamics and the more detailed models used in electrical engineering. However, they have a blind spot concerning grid components, which cannot be modeled by oscillator equations, and hence do not allow to investigate storage-related issues from scratch. We remove this shortcoming by bringing together Kuramoto-like and algebraic load-flow equations. This is a substantial extension of the current Kuramoto framework with arbitrary grid components. Based on this concept, we provide a solid starting point for the integration of flexible storage units enabling to address current problems like smart storage control, optimal siting and rough cost estimations. For demonstration purpose, we here consider a wind power application with realistic feed-in conditions. We show how to implement basic control strategies from electrical engineering, give insights into their potential with respect to frequency quality improvement and point out their limitations by maximum capacity and finite-time response., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures

We study the driven Brownian motion of hard rods in a one-dimensional cosine potential with an amplitude large compared to the thermal energy. In a closed system, we find surprising features of the steady-state current in dependence of the particle density. The form of the current-density relation changes greatly with the particle size and can exhibit both a local maximum and minimum. The changes are caused by an interplay of a barrier reduction, blocking and exchange symmetry effect. The latter leads to a current equal to that of non-interacting particles for a particle size commensurate with the period length of the cosine potential. For an open system coupled to particle reservoirs, we predict five different phases of non-equilibrium steady states to occur. Our results show that the particle size can be of crucial importance for non-equilibrium phase transitions in driven systems. Possible experiments for demonstrating our findings are pointed out., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, (5 pages, 1 figure), ancillary file includes supplementary information

Several fluctuation formulas are available for calculating elastic constants from equilibrium correlation functions in computer simulations, but the ones available for simulations at constant pressure exhibit slow convergence properties and cannot be used for the determination of local elastic constants. To overcome these drawbacks, we derive a stress-stress fluctuation formula in the $NPT$ ensemble based on known expressions in the $NVT$ ensemble. We validate the formula in the $NPT$ ensemble by calculating elastic constants for the simple nearest-neighbor Lennard-Jones crystal and by comparing the results with those obtained in the $NVT$ ensemble. For both local and bulk elastic constants we find an excellent agreement between the simulated data in the two ensembles. To demonstrate the usefulness of the new formula, we apply it to determine the elastic constants of a simulated lipid bilayer., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

Non-linear equations describing the time evolution of frequencies and voltages in power grids exhibit fixed points of stable grid operation. The dynamical behaviour after perturbations around these fixed points can be used to characterise the stability of the grid. We investigate both probabilities of return to a fixed point and times needed for this return after perturbation of single nodes. Our analysis is based on an IEEE test grid and the second-order swing equations for voltage phase angles $\theta_j$ at nodes $j$ in the synchronous machine model. The perturbations cover all possible changes $\Delta\theta$ of voltage angles and a wide range of frequency deviations in a range $\Delta f=\pm1$~Hz around the common frequency $\omega=2\pi f=\dot\theta_j$ in a synchronous fixed point state. Extensive numerical calculations are carried out to determine, for all node pairs $(j,k)$, the return times $t_{jk}(\Delta\theta,\Delta \omega)$ of node $k$ after a perturbation of node $j$. We find that for strong perturbations of some nodes, the grid does not return to its synchronous state. If returning to the fixed point, the times needed for the return are strongly different for different disturbed nodes and can reach values up to 20 seconds and more. When homogenising transmission line and node properties, the grid always returns to a synchronous state for the considered perturbations, and the longest return times have a value of about 4 seconds for all nodes. The neglect of reactances between points of power generation (internal nodes) and injection (terminal nodes) leads to an underestimation of return probabilities., Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures

We consider a lattice gas in spaces of dimensionality $\mathcal{D}=1,2,3$. The particles are subject to a hardcore exclusion interaction and an attractive pair interaction that satisfies Gauss' law as do Newtonian gravity in $\mathcal{D}=3$, a logarithmic potential in $\mathcal{D}=2$, and a distance-independent force in $\mathcal{D}=1$. Under mild additional assumptions regarding symmetry and fluctuations we investigate equilibrium states of self-gravitating material clusters, in particular radial density profiles for closed and open systems. We present exact analytic results in several instances and high-precision numerical data in others. The density profile of a cluster with finite mass is found to exhibit exponential decay in $\mathcal{D}=1$ and power-law decay in $\mathcal{D}=2$ with temperature-dependent exponents in both cases. In $\mathcal{D}=2$ the gas evaporates in a continuous transition at a nonzero critical temperature. We describe clusters of infinite mass in $\mathcal{D}=3$ with a density profile consisting of three layers (core, shell, halo) and an algebraic large-distance asymptotic decay. In $\mathcal{D}=3$ a cluster of finite mass can be stabilized at $T>0$ via confinement to a sphere of finite radius. In some parameter regime, the gas thus enclosed undergoes a discontinuous transition between distinct density profiles. For the free energy needed to identify the equilibrium state we introduce a construction of gravitational self-energy that works in all $\mathcal{D}$ for the lattice gas. The decay rate of the density profile of an open cluster is shown to transform via a stretched exponential for $1<\mathcal{D}<2$ whereas it crosses over from one power-law at intermediate distances to a different power-law at larger distances for $2<\mathcal{D}<3$., Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures

We present an effective method to model empirical action potentials of specific patients in the human atria based on the minimal model of Bueno-Orovio, Cherry and Fenton adapted to atrial electrophysiology. In this model, three ionic are currents introduced, where each of it is governed by a characteristic time scale. By applying a nonlinear optimization procedure, a best combination of the respective time scales is determined, which allows one to reproduce specific action potentials with a given amplitude, width and shape. Possible applications for supporting clinical diagnosis are pointed out., Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures

We consider linear arrays of cells of volume $V_\mathrm{c}$ populated by monodisperse rods of size $\sigma V_\mathrm{c}$, $\sigma=1,2,\ldots$, subject to hardcore exclusion interaction. Each rod experiences a position-dependent external potential. In one application we also examine effects of contact forces between rods. We employ two distinct methods of exact analysis with complementary strengths and different limits of spatial resolution to calculate profiles of pressure and density on mesoscopic and microscopic length scales at thermal equilibrium. One method uses density functionals and the other statistically interacting vacancy particles. The applications worked out include gravity, power-law traps, and hard walls. We identify oscillations in the profiles on a microscopic length scale and show how they are systematically averaged out on a well-defined mesoscopic length scale to establish full consistency between the two approaches. The continuum limit, realized as $V_\mathrm{c}\to0$, $\sigma\to\infty$ at nonzero and finite $\sigma V_\mathrm{c}$, connects our highest-resolution results with known exact results for monodisperse rods in a continuum. We also compare the pressure profiles obtained from density functionals with the average microscopic pressure profiles derived from the pair distribution function., Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures

We propose a simple conjecture for the functional form of the asymptotic behavior of work distributions for driven overdamped Brownian motion of a particle in confining potentials. This conjecture is motivated by the fact that these functional forms are independent of the velocity of the driving for all potentials and protocols, where explicit analytical solutions for the work distributions have been derived in the literature. To test the conjecture, we use Brownian dynamics simulations and a recent theory developed by Engel and Nickelsen (EN theory), which is based on the contraction principle of large deviation theory. Our tests suggest that the conjecture is valid for potentials with a confinement equal to or weaker than the parabolic one, both for equilibrium and for nonequilibrium distributions of the initial particle position. In addition we obtain a new analytical solution for the asymptotic behavior of the work distribution for the V-potential by application of the EN theory, and we extend this theory to nonequilibrated initial particle positions.

The self-consistent rate theory for surface growth in the submonolayer regime is generalized from mono- to multi-component systems, which are formed by codeposition of different types of atoms or molecules. As a new feature, the theory requires the introduction of pair density distributions to enable a symmetric treatment of reactions among different species. The approach is explicitly developed for binary systems and tested against kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Using a reduced set of rate equations, only a few differential equations need to be solved to obtain good quantitative predictions for island and adatom densities, as well as densities of unstable clusters., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

Understanding and control of cluster and thin film growth on solid surfaces is a subject of intensive research to develop nanomaterials with new physical properties. In this Colloquium we review basic theoretical concepts to describe submonolayer growth kinetics under non-equilibrium conditions. It is shown how these concepts can be extended and further developed to treat self-organized cluster formation in material systems of current interest, such as nanoalloys and molecular clusters in organic thin film growth. The presentation is focused on ideal flat surfaces to limit the scope and to discuss key ideas in a transparent way. Open experimental and theoretical challenges are pointed out., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures

We study stochastic particle transport between two reservoirs along a channel, where the particles are pumped against a bias by a traveling wave potential. It is shown that phase transitions of period-averaged densities or currents occur inside the channel when exclusion interactions between the particles are taken into account. These transitions reflect those known for the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP). We argue that their occurrence is a generic feature of Brownian motors operating in open systems., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

We derive exact density functionals for systems of hard rods with first-neighbor interactions of arbitrary shape but limited range on a one-dimensional lattice. The size of all rods is the same integer unit of the lattice constant. The derivation, constructed from conditional probabilities in a Markov chain approach, yields the exact joint probability distribution for the positions of the rods as a functional of their density profile. For contact interaction ("sticky core model") between rods we give a lattice fundamental measure form of the density functional and present explicit results for contact correlators, entropy, free energy, and chemical potential. Our treatment includes inhomogeneous couplings and external potentials., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

DNA hairpin molecules with periodic base sequences can be expected to exhibit a regular coarse-grained free energy landscape (FEL) as function of the number of open base pairs and applied mechanical force. Using a commonly employed model, we first analyse for which types of sequences a particularly simple landscape structure is predicted, where forward and backward energy barriers between partly unfolded states are decreasing linearly with force. Stochastic unfolding trajectories for such molecules with simple FEL are subsequently generated by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Introducing probabilities that can be sampled from these trajectories, it is shown how the parameters characterising the FEL can be estimated. Already 300 trajectories, as typically generated in experiments, provide faithful results for the FEL parameters., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures

Analysis of signal fluctuations of a locally fixed probe, caused by molecules diffusing under the probe, can be used to determine diffusion coefficients. Theoretical treatments so far have been limited to point-like particles or to molecules with circle-like shapes. Here we extend these treatments to molecules with rectangle-like shapes, for which also rotational diffusion needs to be taken into account. Focusing on the distribution of peak widths in the signal, we show how translational as well as rotational diffusion coefficients can be determined. We address also the question, how the distribution of interpeak time intervals and autocorrelation function can be employed for determining diffusion coefficients. Our approach is validated against kinetic Monte Carlo simulations., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures

The equilibrium statistical mechanics of one-dimensional lattice gases with interactions of arbitrary range and shape between first-neighbor atoms is solved exactly on the basis of statistically interacting vacancy particles. Two sets of vacancy particles are considered. In one set all vacancies are of one-cell size. In the other set the sizes of vacancy particles match the separation between atoms. Explicit expressions are obtained for the Gibbs free energy and the distribution of spaces between atoms at thermal equilibrium. Applications to various types of interaction potentials are discussed, including long-range potentials that give rise to phase transitions. Extensions to hard rod systems are straightforward and are shown to agree with existing results for lattice models and their continuum limits., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

Driven lattice gases serve as canonical models for investigating collective transport phenomena and properties of non-equilibrium steady states (NESS). Here we study one-dimensional transport with nearest-neighbor interactions both in closed bulk systems and in open channels coupled to two particle reservoirs at the ends of the channel. For the widely employed Glauber rates we derive an exact current-density relation in the bulk for unidirectional hopping. An approach based on time-dependent density functional theory provides a good description of the kinetics. For open systems, the system-reservoir couplings are shown to have a striking influence on boundary-induced phase diagrams. The role of particle-hole symmetry is discussed and its consequence on the topology of the phase diagrams. It is furthermore demonstrated that systems with weak bias can be mapped onto systems with unidirectional hopping., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures