Heat fluctuations of Brownian oscillators in nonstationary processes: Fluctuation theorem and condensation transition.

We study analytically the probability distribution of the heat released by an ensemble of harmonic oscillators to the thermal bath, in the nonequilibrium relaxation process following a temperature quench. We focus on the asymmetry properties of the heat distribution in the nonstationary dynamics, in order to study the forms taken by the fluctuation theorem as the number of degrees of freedom is varied. After analyzing in great detail the cases of one and two oscillators, we consider the limit of a large number of oscillators, where the behavior of fluctuations is enriched by a condensation transition with a nontrivial phase diagram, characterized by reentrant behavior. Numerical simulations confirm our analytical findings. We also discuss and highlight how concepts borrowed from the study of fluctuations in equilibrium under symmetry-breaking conditions [Gaspard, J. Stat. Mech. (2012) P0802110.1088/1742-5468/2012/08/P08021] turn out to be quite useful in understanding the deviations from the standard fluctuation theorem.

Crossover in growth law and violation of superuniversality in the random-field Ising model.

We study the nonconserved phase-ordering dynamics of the d=2,3 random-field Ising model, quenched to below the critical temperature. Motivated by the puzzling results of previous work in two and three dimensions, reporting a crossover from power-law to logarithmic growth, together with superuniversal behavior of the correlation function, we have undertaken a careful investigation of both the domain growth law and the autocorrelation function. Our main results are as follows: We confirm the crossover to asymptotic logarithmic behavior in the growth law, but, at variance with previous findings, we find the exponent in the preasymptotic power law to be disorder dependent, rather than being that of the pure system. Furthermore, we find that the autocorrelation function does not display superuniversal behavior. This restores consistency with previous results for the d=1 system, and fits nicely into the unifying scaling scheme we have recently proposed in the study of the random-bond Ising model.

Self-tuning phase separation in a model with competing interactions inspired by biological cell polarization.

We present a theoretical study of a system with competing short-range ferromagnetic attraction and a long-range antiferromagnetic repulsion, in the presence of a uniform external magnetic field. The interplay between these interactions, at sufficiently low temperature, leads to the self-tuning of the magnetization to a value which triggers phase coexistence, even in the presence of the external field. The investigation of this phenomenon is performed using a Ginzburg-Landau functional in the limit of an infinite number of order parameter components (large N model). The scalar version of the model is expected to describe the phase separation taking place on a cell surface when this is immersed in a uniform concentration of chemical stimulant. A phase diagram is obtained as a function of the external field and the intensity of the long-range repulsion. The time evolution of the order parameter and of the structure factor in a relaxation process is studied in different regions of the phase diagram.

Off-equilibrium response function in the one-dimensional random-field Ising model.

A thorough numerical investigation of the slow dynamics in the d=1 random-field Ising model in the limit of an infinite ferromagnetic coupling is presented in this paper. Crossovers from the preasymptotic pure regime to the asymptotic Sinai regime are investigated for the average domain size, the autocorrelation function, and staggered magnetization. By switching on an additional small random field at the time t(w) the linear off-equilibrium response function is obtained, which displays as well the crossover from the nontrivial behavior of the d=1 pure Ising model to the asymptotic behavior where it vanishes identically.

Interface fluctuations, bulk fluctuations, and dimensionality in the off-equilibrium response of coarsening systems.

The relationship between statics and dynamics proposed by Franz, Mezard, Parisi, and Peliti (FMPP) for slowly relaxing systems [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1758 (1998)] is investigated in the framework of nondisordered coarsening systems. Separating the bulk from interface response we find that for statics to be retrievable from dynamics the interface contribution must be asymptotically negligible. How fast this happens depends on dimensionality. There exists a critical dimensionality above that the interface response vanishes like the interface density and below that it vanishes more slowly. At d=1 the interface response does not vanish leading to the violation of the FMPP scheme. This behavior is explained in terms of the competition between curvature-driven and field-driven interface motion.

Fluctuation dissipation ratio in the one-dimensional kinetic ising model

The exact relation between the response function R(t,t(')) and the two time correlation function C(t,t(')) is derived analytically in the one-dimensional kinetic Ising model subjected to a temperature quench. The fluctuation dissipation ratio X(t,t(')) is found to depend on time through C(t,t(')) in the time region where scaling C(t,t('))=f(t/t(')) holds. The crossover from the nontrivial form X[C(t,t('))] to X(t,t(')) identical with1 takes place as the waiting time t(w) is increased from below to above the equilibration time t(eq).