Subdiffusive Regime Research Articles

Subdiffusive Thouless time scaling in the Anderson model on random regular graphs

The scaling of the Thouless time with system size is of fundamental importance to characterize dynamical properties in quantum systems. In this work, we study the scaling of the Thouless time in the Anderson model on random regular graphs with on-site disorder. We determine the Thouless time from two main quantities: the spectral form factor and the power spectrum. Both quantities probe the long-range spectral correlations in the system and allow us to determine the Thouless time as the time scale after which the system is well described by random matrix theory. We find that the scaling of the Thouless time is consistent with the existence of a sub-diffusive regime anticipating the localized phase. Furthermore, to reduce finite-size effects, we break energy conservation by introducing a Floquet version of the model and show that it hosts a similar sub-diffusive regime.

Effect of Topology on the Statics and Dynamics of a Polymer Chain at the Fluid-Fluid Interface: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study.

The effect of chain topology on the statics and dynamics of a chain at the interface of two immiscible fluids is studied by means of molecular dynamic simulations. For three topologically different chains, namely, linear, ring, and trefoil-knot, of the same molecular weight, the effect of varying both polymer-fluid and fluid-fluid interaction nature on the width of the fluid interface, chain conformation, shape, and chain dynamics is investigated. For a sharp-interface binary-fluid system, the interface width is insensitive to both topology and polymer-fluid interaction nature, while a weak nonmonotonic variation is seen for a broad-interface system. Chain extension normal to the interface plane is significantly affected by the topology with a trefoil-knot chain, due to the additional constraint, which has the largest value compared to both linear and ring polymers. Instantaneous shapes are also quantified through shape parameters. Furthermore, it is observed that the qualitative behavior of the center-of-mass mean-square displacement (MSD) is independent of topology, i.e., all the chain types show the same diffusion exponent α ( ∼ 1). However, the self-diffusion constant depends on the topology and it is the largest for the trefoil-knot chain. An interesting observation pertaining to the early time behavior of monomeric MSD is that, within the subdiffusive regime, the values of α for different parameters (independent of topology) are grouped into two distinct ranges (0.52 - 0.59 and 0.62 - 0.67), which are related to the different chain conformation for the polymer-fluid interaction range below and above a threshold value equal to that of the self-interaction of the pure fluid phase.

Dephasing-enhanced performance in quasiperiodic thermal machines

Understanding and controlling quantum transport in low-dimensional systems is pivotal for heat management at the nanoscale. One promising strategy to obtain the desired transport properties is to engineer particular spectral structures. In this work we are interested in quasiperiodic disorder - incommensurate with the underlying periodicity of the lattice - which induces fractality in the energy spectrum. A well known example is the Fibonacci model which, despite being non-interacting, yields anomalous diffusion with a continuously varying dynamical exponent smoothly crossing over from superdiffusive to subdiffusive regime as a function of potential strength. We study the finite-temperature electric and heat transport of this model in linear response in the absence and in the presence of dephasing noise due to inelastic scattering. The dephasing causes both thermal and electric transport to become diffusive, thereby making thermal and electrical conductivities finite in the thermodynamic limit. Thus, in the subdiffusive regime it leads to enhancement of transport. We find that the thermal and electric conductivities have multiple peaks as a function of dephasing strength. Remarkably, we observe that the thermal and electrical conductivities are not proportional to each other, a clear violation of Wiedemann-Franz law, and the position of their maxima can differ. We argue that this feature can be utilized to enhance performance of quantum thermal machines. In particular, we show that by tuning the strength of the dephasing noise we can enhance the performance of the device in regimes where it acts as an autonomous refrigerator.

Anomalous diffusion in branched elliptical structure

Diffusion in narrow curved channels with dead-ends as in extracellular space in the biological tissues, e.g., brain, tumors, muscles, etc. is a geometrically induced complex diffusion and is relevant to different kinds of biological, physical, and chemical systems. In this paper, we study the effects of geometry and confinement on the diffusion process in an elliptical comb-like structure and analyze its statistical properties. The ellipse domain whose boundary has the polar equation with 0 < e < 1, θ ∈ [0,2π], and b as a constant, can be obtained through stretched radius r such that Υ = r ρ (θ) with r ∈ [0,1]. We suppose that, for fixed radius r = R, an elliptical motion takes place and is interspersed with a radial motion inward and outward of the ellipse. The probability distribution function (PDF) in the structure and the marginal PDF and mean square displacement (MSD) along the backbone are obtained numerically. The results show that a transient sub-diffusion behavior dominates the process for a time followed by a saturating state. The sub-diffusion regime and saturation threshold are affected by the length of the elliptical channel lateral branch and its curvature.

Exploration of Ion Transport in Blends of an Ionic Liquid and a Polymerized Ionic Liquid Graft Copolymer.

In this study, we prepared a composite membrane consisting of a poly(1-butyl-3-vinylimidazolium-tetrafluoroborate) (poly([BVIM]-[BF4])) polymerized ionic liquid graft copolymer (PILGC) and a blend of PILGC and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIM]-[BF4]) ionic liquid (IL) to explore techniques for improving the conductivity of PILGCs, which is normally three orders of magnitude lower than that of ILs. PILGCs, which are environmentally friendly, have attracted much interest. To gain a better understanding of ion transport in composites, the mechanisms of ion transport in composite components should be explored. We investigated anion transport in ILs and PILGCs and were able to obtain the correct ion transport mechanisms in IL-PILGC blends based on a previous work. We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which are commonly used to investigate molecular mechanisms. According to the MD simulation results, in most IL-PILGC blends of various compositions, the contributions of cations are greater than those of anions. This is one reason that blends have higher conductivities than their component PILGCs. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to identify ion transport mechanisms in PILGCs and their blends with ILs by exploring subdiffusive ion motion regimes. The ratio of the number of cages with more than three cationic branch chains in the blend with 50 wt % PILGC, the blend with 80 wt % PILGC, and the PILGC was 0.26:0.39:0.65. Therefore, the ratio of firm cages gets a promotion as the PILGC content increases. Because the ratio of fast ions decreases as the ratio of firm cages increases, the blend with 80 wt % PILGC has lower anion diffusivities than the blend with 50 wt % PILGC. It was inappropriate to probe ion transport in PILGCs (or IL-PILGC blends) solely via analyzing ion association interactions. Analysis of only ion association interactions led to the incorrect conclusion that the time scales of ion transport in PILGCs are given by the continuous ion association time, which is the time when the ion association remains paired rather than the time when an ion is caught inside a cage. Proper methods should be used to obtain more accurate theories.

A model-system of Fickian yet non-Gaussian diffusion: light patterns in place of complex matter.

Fickian yet non-Gaussian Diffusion (FnGD), widely observed for colloidal particles in a variety of complex and biological fluids, emerges as a most intriguing open issue in Soft Matter. To fully monitor FnGD and advance its understanding, recording many trajectories over a large time range is crucial, which makes experiments challenging. Here we exploit a recently introduced experimental model of finely tunable FnGD: a quasi-2d system of Brownian beads in water moving in a heterogeneous energy landscape generated by a static and spatially random optical force field (speckle pattern). By performing experiments at different optical power, we succeed in monitoring the evolution as well as the precursors of FnGD. Fickian scaling of the mean square displacement is always attained after a subdiffusive regime while the displacement distributions keep on being non-Gaussian, which allows for measuring a characteristic length- and time-scale for the onset of FnGD, ξf and tf. We find that ξf stays constant, whereas tf grows as the inverse of the long-time diffusion coefficient tf ∝ D-1 for increasing the optical power. Deviations from the standard Gaussian shape of the displacement distribution are neatly characterized on a broad range of times, focusing on the excess probability at small displacements and on the decay-length of the distinctive exponential tails. Such deviations are fully built in the subdiffusive regime and, at the FnGD onset, grow with the optical power. As time goes on, the small-displacement probability narrows and the exponential tails progressively break up, with a tendency to recover the Gaussian behaviour. Overall, both subdiffusion and FnGD become more marked and persistent on increasing the optical power, suggesting a strict relation between these two regimes. As clearly demonstrated by our results, the adopted model-system represents a privileged stage for in-depth study of FnGD and opens the way to unveil the nature of this phenomenon through finely tuned and well-controlled experiments.

Fermionic and bosonic fluctuation-dissipation theorem from a deformed AdS holographic model at finite temperature and chemical potential

In this work we study fluctuations and dissipation of a string in a deformed anti-de Sitter (AdS) space at finite temperature and density. The deformed AdS space is a charged black hole solution of the Einstein–Maxwell–Dilaton action. In this background we take into account the backreaction on the horizon function from an exponential deformation of the AdS space. From this model we compute the admittance and study the influence of the temperature and the chemical potential on it. We calculate the two-point correlations functions, and the mean square displacement for bosonic and fermionic cases, from which we obtain the short and large time approximations. For the long time, we obtain a sub-diffusive regime sim log t. Combining the results from the admittance and the correlations functions we check the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for bosonic and fermionic systems.

Localization crossover and subdiffusive transport in a classical facilitated network model of a disordered interacting quantum spin chain

We consider the random-field Heisenberg model, a paradigmatic model for many-body localization (MBL), and add a Markovian dephasing bath coupled to the Anderson orbitals of the model's non-interacting limit. We map this system to a classical facilitated hopping model that is computationally tractable for large system sizes, and investigate its dynamics. The classical model exhibits a robust crossover between an ergodic (thermal) phase and a frozen (localized) phase. The frozen phase is destabilized by thermal subregions (bubbles), which thermalize surrounding sites by providing a fluctuating interaction energy and so enable off-resonance particle transport. Investigating steady state transport, we observe that the interplay between thermal and frozen bubbles leads to a clear transition between diffusive and subdiffusive regimes. This phenomenology both describes the MBL system coupled to a bath, and provides a classical analogue for the many-body localization transition in the corresponding quantum model, in that the classical model displays long local memory times. It also highlights the importance of the details of the bath coupling in studies of MBL systems coupled to thermal environments.

Non-Gaussian, transiently anomalous, and ergodic self-diffusion of flexible dumbbells in crowded two-dimensional environments: Coupled translational and rotational motions.

We employ Langevin-dynamics simulations to unveil non-Brownian and non-Gaussian center-of-mass self-diffusion of massive flexible dumbbell-shaped particles in crowded two-dimensional solutions. We study the intradumbbell dynamics of the relative motion of the two constituent elastically coupled disks. Our main focus is on effects of the crowding fraction ϕ and of the particle structure on the diffusion characteristics. We evaluate the time-averaged mean-squared displacement (TAMSD), the displacement probability-density function (PDF), and the displacement autocorrelation function (ACF) of the dimers. For the TAMSD at highly crowded conditions of dumbbells, e.g., we observe a transition from the short-time ballistic behavior, via an intermediate subdiffusive regime, to long-time Brownian-like spreading dynamics. The crowded system of dimers exhibits two distinct diffusion regimes distinguished by the scaling exponent of the TAMSD, the dependence of the diffusivity on ϕ, and the features of the displacement-ACF. We attribute these regimes to a crowding-induced transition from viscous to viscoelastic diffusion upon growing ϕ. We also analyze the relative motion in the dimers, finding that larger ϕ suppress their vibrations and yield strongly non-Gaussian PDFs of rotational displacements. For the diffusion coefficients D(ϕ) of translational and rotational motion of the dumbbells an exponential decay with ϕ for weak and a power-law variation D(ϕ)∝(ϕ-ϕ^{★})^{2.4} for strong crowding is found. A comparison of simulation results with theoretical predictions for D(ϕ) is discussed and some relevant experimental systems are overviewed.

Dynamical obstruction to localization in a disordered spin chain.

We analyze a one-dimensional XXZ spin chain in a disordered magnetic field. As the main probes of the system's behavior, we use the sensitivity of eigenstates to adiabatic transformations, as expressed through the fidelity susceptibility, in conjunction with the low-frequency asymptotes of the spectral function. We identify a region of maximal chaos-with exponentially enhanced susceptibility-which separates the many-body localized phase from the diffusive ergodic phase. This regime is characterized by slow transport, and we argue that the presence of such slow dynamics highly constrains any possible localization transition in the thermodynamic limit. Rather, the results are more consistent with absence of the localized phase.

Subdiffusive-Brownian crossover in membrane proteins: a generalized Langevin equation-based approach

In this work, we propose a generalized Langevin equation-based model to describe the lateral diffusion of a protein in a lipid bilayer. The memory kernel is represented in terms of a viscous (instantaneous) and an elastic (noninstantaneous) component modeled through a Dirac δ function and a three-parameter Mittag-Leffler type function, respectively. By imposing a specific relationship between the parameters of the three-parameter Mittag-Leffler function, the different dynamical regimes—namely ballistic, subdiffusive, and Brownian, as well as the crossover from one regime to another—are retrieved. Within this approach, the transition time from the ballistic to the subdiffusive regime and the spectrum of relaxation times underlying the transition from the subdiffusive to the Brownian regime are given. The reliability of the model is tested by comparing the mean-square displacement derived in the framework of this model and the mean-square displacement of a protein diffusing in a membrane calculated through molecular dynamics simulations.

Single-file dynamics of colloids in circular channels: Time scales, scaling laws and their universality

In colloidal systems, Brownian motion emerges from the massive separation of time and length scales associated to characteristic dynamics of the solute and solvent constituents. This separation of scales produces several temporal regimes in the colloidal dynamics when combined with the effects of the interaction between the particles, confinement conditions, and state variables, such as density and temperature. Some examples are the short- and long-time regimes in two- and three-dimensional open systems and the diffusive and sub-diffusive regimes observed in the single-file dynamics along a straight line. This work studies the way in which a confining geometry induces new time scales. We report on the dynamics of interacting colloidal particles moving along a circle by combining a heuristic theoretical analysis of the involved scales, Brownian Dynamics computer simulations, and video-microscopy experiments with paramagnetic colloids confined to lithographic circular channels subjected to an external magnetic field. The systems display four temporal regimes in this order: one-dimensional free diffusion, single-file sub-diffusion, free-cluster rotational diffusion, and the expected saturation due to the confinement. We also report analytical expressions for the mean-square angular displacement and crossover times obtained from scaling arguments, which accurately reproduce both experiments and simulations. Our generic approach can be used to predict the long-time dynamics of many other confined physical systems.

Dynamics and pattern formation of a diffusive predator - prey model in the subdiffusive regime in presence of toxicity

Motivated by the fact that the restrictive conditions for a Turing instability are relaxed in subdiffusive regime, we investigate the effects of subdiffusion in the predator - prey model with toxins under the homogeneous Neumann boundary condition. First, the stability analysis of the corresponding ordinary differential equation is carried out. From this analysis, it follows that stability is closely related to the coefficient of toxicity. In addition, the temporal fractional derivative does not systematically widen the range of parameters to maintain a point in the stability domain. Furthermore, we derive the condition which links the Turing instability to the coefficient of toxicity in the subdiffusive regime. System parameters are varied in order to test our mathematical predictions while comparing them to ecological literature. It turns out that the memory effects, linked to the transport process can, depending on the parameters, either stabilize an ecosystem or make a completely different configuration.

Rapid Fickian Yet Non-Gaussian Diffusion after Subdiffusion.

The recently discovered Fickian yet non-Gaussian diffusion (FnGD) is here finely tuned and investigated over a wide range of probabilities and timescales using a quasi-2D suspension of colloidal beads under the action of a static and spatially random optical force field. This experimental model allows one to demonstrate that a "rapid" FnGD regime with a diffusivity close to that of free suspension can originate from earlier subdiffusion. We show that these two regimes are strictly tangled: as subdiffusion deepens upon increasing the optical force, deviations from Gaussianity in the FnGD regime become larger and more persistent in time. In addition, the distinctive exponential tails of FnGD are quickly built up in the subdiffusive regime. Our results shed new light on previous experimental observations and suggest that FnGD may generally be a memory effect of earlier subdiffusive processes.

Modeling of Nonlinear Optical Phenomena in Host-Guest Systems Using Bond Fluctuation Monte Carlo Model: A Review.

We review the results of Monte Carlo studies of chosen nonlinear optical effects in host-guest systems, using methods based on the bond-fluctuation model (BFM) for a polymer matrix. In particular, we simulate the inscription of various types of diffraction gratings in degenerate two wave mixing (DTWM) experiments (surface relief gratings (SRG), gratings in polymers doped with azo-dye molecules and gratings in biopolymers), poling effects (electric field poling of dipolar molecules and all-optical poling) and photomechanical effect. All these processes are characterized in terms of parameters measured in experiments, such as diffraction efficiency, nonlinear susceptibilities, density profiles or loading parameters. Local free volume in the BFM matrix, characterized by probabilistic distributions and correlation functions, displays a complex mosaic-like structure of scale-free clusters, which are thought to be responsible for heterogeneous dynamics of nonlinear optical processes. The photoinduced dynamics of single azopolymer chains, studied in two and three dimensions, displays complex sub-diffusive, diffusive and super-diffusive dynamical regimes. A directly related mathematical model of SRG inscription, based on the continuous time random walk (CTRW) formalism, is formulated and studied. Theoretical part of the review is devoted to the justification of the a priori assumptions made in the BFM modeling of photoinduced motion of the azo-polymer chains.

Lithium coordination and diffusion coefficients of PEGylated ionic liquid and lithium salt blends: A molecular dynamics simulation study

PEGylated imidazolium ionic liquids are of interest because of their non-volatility, nonflammability, and unique ion transport properties attributed to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). In this work, we used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the interactions of Li+ in an equimolar blend of 1-(monomethoxy PEG)-2-methylimidazolium bistriflamide ([PEGmim][Tf2N]) and lithium bistriflamide (LiTf2N) salt. Analysis of the radial distribution function for Li+ showed that the oxygen atoms from the bistriflamide anion are replaced by, on average, 3.1 oxygen atoms from the PEG side groups, indicating improved solvation of the lithium salt in the PEGylated ionic liquid than in conventional alkylated ionic liquids. Li+ coordination number showed an increase in the affinity for PEG oxygen atoms when the temperature increased from 300 to 350 K. The mean square displacement (MSD) versus time data were analyzed using a combination of a power-law model, representative of the subdiffusive regime, and a linear model for the Brownian diffusion. A transition from subdiffusive to normal diffusion behavior was observed at around 10 ns for all ionic species present in the system. Contrary to the expected trend based on ion sizes, the diffusion coefficients in the linear MSD regime followed the trend [PEGmim]+ > [Tf2N]− > Li+, with the larger [PEGmim]+ exhibiting the highest diffusion coefficient. Interestingly, the mean square displacement profile, normalized by the square of the ion size represented by a characteristic radius, was similar for the cation and anion, indicating equivalent ionic displacements in the absence of an electric field. In the asymptotic limit, the ratio of the MSD of [PEGmim]+ to the MSD of [Tf2N]− was about 1.3. Diffusion coefficients of [PEGmim]+, measured using pulsed field gradient stimulated echo nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, showed excellent correlation with the liquid viscosity, based on the Sutherland–Einstein equation, for both the neat ionic liquid and its blend with the lithium salt. Values of diffusion coefficients increased with temperature, consistent with an Arrhenius diffusion behavior with an activation energy of about 49 kJ mol−1 for [PEGmim][Tf2N] and 55 kJ mol−1 for [PEGmim][Tf2N] + LiTf2N.

Many-body localization and enhanced nonergodic subdiffusive regime in the presence of random long-range interactions

We study many-body localization (MBL) in a one-dimensional system of spinless fermions with a deterministic aperiodic potential in the presence of random interactions ${V}_{ij}$ decaying as power-law ${V}_{ij}/{({r}_{ij})}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ with distance ${r}_{ij}$. We demonstrate that MBL survives even for $\ensuremath{\alpha}&lt;1$ and is preceded by a broad nonergodic subdiffusive phase. Starting from parameters at which the short-range interacting system shows an infinite temperature MBL phase, turning on random power-law interactions results in many-body mobility edges in the spectrum with a larger fraction of ergodic delocalized states for smaller values of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. Hence, the critical disorder ${h}_{c}^{r}$, at which ergodic to nonergodic transition takes place, increases with the range of interactions. Time evolution of the density imbalance $I(t)$, which has power-law decay $I(t)\ensuremath{\sim}{t}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ in the intermediate to large time regime, shows that the critical disorder ${h}_{c}^{I}$, above which the system becomes diffusionless (with $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\sim}0$) and transits into the MBL phase, is much larger than ${h}_{c}^{r}$. In between ${h}_{c}^{r}$ and ${h}_{c}^{I}$ there is a broad nonergodic subdiffusive phase, which is characterized by the Poissonian statistics for the level spacing ratio, multifractal eigenfunctions, and a nonzero dynamical exponent $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\ll}1/2$. The system continues to be subdiffusive even on the ergodic side ($h&lt;{h}_{c}^{r}$) of the MBL transition, where the eigenstates near the mobility edges are multifractal. For $h&lt;{h}_{0}&lt;{h}_{c}^{r}$, the system is superdiffusive with $\ensuremath{\gamma}&gt;1/2$. The rich phase diagram obtained here is unique to the random nature of long-range interactions. We explain this in terms of the enhanced correlations among local energies of the effective Anderson model induced by random power-law interactions.

Impact of confined geometries on hopping and trapping of motile bacteria in porous media.

We use a random walk particle-tracking (RWPT) approach to elucidate the impact of porous media confinement and cell-cell interactions on bacterial transport. The model employs stochastic alternating motility states consisting of hopping movement and trapping reorientation. The stochastic motility patterns are defined based on direct visualization of individual trajectory data. We validate our model against experimental data, at single-cell resolution, of bacterial E. coli motion in three-dimensional confined porous media. Results show that the model is able to efficiently simulate the spreading dynamics of motile bacteria as it captures the impact of cell-cell interaction and pore confinement, which marks the transition to a late-time subdiffusive regime. Furthermore, the model is able to qualitatively reproduce the observed directional persistence. Our RWPT model constitutes a meshless simple method which is easy to implement and does not invoke ad hoc assumptions but represents the basis for a multiscale approach to the study of bacterial dispersal in porous systems.

Spatially Resolved Reflectance in Sub-Diffusive Regime Measurement System for Mucosal Lesion Recognition

Spatially Resolved Reflectance in Sub-Diffusive Regime Measurement System for Mucosal Lesion Recognition

Diffusion and adsorption-desorption phenomena in confined systems with periodically varying medium

We study diffusing particles in a confined liquid whose diffusion coefficient periodically varies across the sample. The limiting substrates may adsorb-desorb particles when memory effects are also considered. We show how the bulk modulation (amplitude and number of turns) affects bulk and surface distributions. The diffusing regimes are also studied in terms of the physical parameters governing the system, and we show that, by controlling the modulation (amplitude and frequency) in such limited system, might lead to superdiffusive, usual, or subdiffusive regimes. In other words, increasing the number of turns and the amplitude of modulation changes how the mean square displacement changes over time. Fewer turns with large negative amplitude favors faster diffusion whereas higher number of turns and large positive amplitudes favor slower diffusion. This simple model might help understanding diffusing behavior in modulated and crowded systems such as in cholesteric and smectic liquid crystals and other lamellar systems.