Diffusion in Lorentz lattice gas cellular automata: The honeycomb and quasi-lattices compared with the square and triangular lattices

We study numerically the nature of the diffusion process on a honeycomb and a quasi-lattice, where a point particle, moving along the bonds of the lattice, scatters from randomly placed scatterers on the lattice sites according to strictly deterministic rules. For the honeycomb lattice fully occupied by fixed rotators two (symmetric) isolated critical points appear to be present, with the same hyperscaling relation as for the square and the triangular lattices. No such points appear to exist for the quasi-lattice. A comprehensive comparison is made with the behavior on the previously studied square and triangular lattices. A great variety of diffusive behavior is found, ranging from propagation, superdiffusion, normal, quasi-normal, and anomalous, to absence of diffusion. The influence of the scattering rules as well as of the lattice structure on the diffusive behavior of a point particle moving on the all lattices studied so far is summarized.     

New results for diffusion in Lorentz lattice gas cellular automata

New calculations to over ten million time steps have revealed a more complex diffusive behavior than previously reported of a point particle on a square and triangular lattice randomly occupied by mirror or rotator scatterers. For the square lattice fully occupied by mirrors where extended closed particle orbits occur, anomalous diffusion was still found. However, for a not fully occupied lattice the superdiffusion, first noticed by Owczarek and Prellberg for a particular concentration, obtains for all concentrations. For the square lattice occupied by rotators and the triangular lattice occupied by mirrors or rotators, an absence of diffusion (trapping) was found for all concentrations, except on critical lines, where anomalous diffusion (extended closed orbits) occurs and hyperscaling holds for all closed orbits withuniversal exponentsd _f =7/4 and =15/7. Only one point on these critical lines can be related to a corresponding percolation problem. The questions arise therefore whether the other critical points can be mapped onto a new percolation-like problem and of the dynamical significance of hyperscaling.     

Diffusion and propagation in triangular Lorentz lattice gas cellular automata

The diffusion process of point particles moving on regular triangular and random lattices, randomly occupied with stationary scatterers (a Lorentz lattice gas cellular automaton), is studied, for strictly deterministic scattering rules, as a function of the concentration of the scatterers. In addition to the normal and various kinds of retarded diffusion found before on the regular square lattice, straight-line propagation through the scatterers is observed.     

Diffusion in lattices with anisotropic scatterers

We study diffusion in lattices with periodic and random arrangements of anisotropic scatterers. We show, using both analytical techniques based upon our previous work on asymptotic properties of multistate random walks and computer calculation, that the diffusion constant for the random arrangement of scatterers is bounded above and below at an arbitrary density by the diffusion constant for an appropriately chosen periodic arrangement of scatterers at the same density. We also investigate the accuracy of the low-density expansion for the diffusion constant up to second order in the density for a lattice with randomly distributed anisotropic scatterers. Comparison of the analytical results with numerical calculations shows that the accuracy of the density expansion depends crucially on the degree of anisotropy of the scatterers. Finally, we discuss a monotonicity law for the diffusion constant with respect to variation of the transition rates, in analogy with the Rayleigh monotonicity law for the effective resistance of electric networks. As an immediate corollary we obtain that the diffusion constant, averaged over all realizations of the random arrangement of anisotropic scatterers at density, is a monotone function of the density.     

Diffusion in Lorentz lattice gas automata with backscattering

The probability of first return to the initial intervalx and the diffusion tensorD _x are calculated exactly for a ballistic Lorentz gas on a Bethe lattice or Cayley tree. It consists of a moving particle and a fixed array of scatterers, located at the nodes, and the lengths of the intervals between scatterers are determined by a geometric distribution. The same values forx andD _x apply also to a regular space lattice with a fraction of sites occupied by a scatterer in the limit of a small concentration of scatterers. If backscattering occurs, the results are very different from the Boltzmann approximation. The theory is applied to different types of lattices and different types of scatterers having rotational or mirror symmetries.     

Scaling of particle trajectories on a lattice

The scaling behavior of the closed trajectories of a moving particle generated by randomly placed rotators or mirrors on a square or triangular lattice is studied numerically. On both lattices, for most concentrations of the scatterers the trajectories close exponentially fast. For special critical concentrations infinitely extended trajectories can occur which exhibit a scaling behavior similar to that of the perimeters of percolation clusters.At criticality, in addition to the two critical exponents =15/7 andd _f=7/4 found before, the critical exponent =3/7 appears. This exponent determines structural scaling properties of closed trajectories of finite size when they approach infinity. New scaling behavior was found for the square lattice partially occupied by rotators, indicating a different universality class than that of percolation clusters.Near criticality, in the critical region, two scaling functions were determined numerically:f(x), related to the trajectory length (S) distributionn _s, andh(x), related to the trajectory sizeR _s (gyration radius) distribution, respectively. The scaling functionf(x) is in most cases found to be a symmetric double Gaussian with the same characteristic size exponent =0.433/7 as at criticality, leading to a stretched exponential dependence ofn _S onS, n_Sexp(–S ^6/7). However, for the rotator model on the partially occupied square lattice an alternative scaling function is found, leading to a new exponent =1.6±0.3 and a superexponential dependence ofn _S onS.h(x) is essentially a constant, which depends on the type of lattice and the concentration of the scatterers. The appearance of the same exponent =3/7 at and near a critical point is discussed.     

Equilibration and Diffusion for a Dynamical Lorentz Gas

We consider a model of a dynamical Lorentz gaz: a single particle is moving in \({\mathbb {R}}^d\) through an array of fixed and soft scatterers each possessing an internal degree of freedom coupled to the particle. Assuming the initial velocity is sufficiently high and modelling the parameters of the scatterers as random variables, we describe the evolution of the kinetic energy of the particle by a Markov chain for which each step corresponds to a collision. We show that the momentum distribution of the particle approaches a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution with effective temperature T such that \(k_BT\) corresponds to an average of the scatterers’ kinetic energy.     

Single-vacancy induced motion of a tracer particle in a two-dimensional lattice gas

We study the random motion of a tracer particle in a two-dimensional dense lattice gas. Repeated encounters of asingle vacancy displace the tracer particle from its initial position by a vector y of which we calculate the time-dependent distributionP _t(y). On an infinite lattice and for large times $$P_t (y) \simeq \frac{{2(\pi - 1)}}{{\ln t}}K_0 \left( {\left( {\frac{{4\pi (\pi - 1)}}{{\ln t}}} \right)^{1/2} y} \right)$$ whereK ₀ is a modified Bessel function. The same problem is studied on a finiteL×L lattice with periodic boundary conditions; thereP _t(y) is shown to be a Gaussian on a time scaleL ² InL. On an ∞×L strip and for large times,P _t(y) is an explicitly given (but nonelementary) function of the scaling variable ξy ₁/t ^1/4, identical to the function occurring in the problem of a random walker on a random one-dimensional path.     

Localization and Propagation in Random Lattices

We analyze the motion of a particle on random lattices. Scatterers of two different types are independently distributed among the vertices of such a lattice. A particle hops from a vertex to one of its neighboring vertices. The choice of neighbor is completely determined by the type of scatterer at the current vertex. It is shown that on Poisson and vectorizable random triangular lattices the particle will either propagate along some unbounded strip or be trapped inside a closed strip. We also characterize the structure of a localization zone contained within a closed strip. Another result shows that for a general class of random lattices the orbit of a particle will be bounded with probability one.     

Stochastic One-Dimensional Lorentz Gas on a Lattice

We study a one-dimensional stochastic Lorentz gas where a light particle moves in a fixed array of nonidentical random scatterers arranged in a lattice. Each scatterer is characterized by a random transmission/reflection coefficient. We consider the case when the transmission coefficients of the scatterers are independent identically distributed random variables. A symbolic program is presented which generates the exact velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) in terms of the moments of the transmission coefficients. The VACF is found for different types of disorder for times up to 20 collision times. We then consider a specific type of disorder: a two-state Lorentz gas in which two types of scatterers are arranged randomly in a lattice. Then a lattice point is occupied by a scatterer whose transmission coefficient is with probability p or + with probability 1–p. A perturbation expansion with respect to is derived. The ² term in this expansion shows that the VACF oscillates with time, the period of oscillation being twice the time of flight from one scatterer to its nearest neighbor. The coarse-grained VACF decays for long times like t ^–3/2, which is similar to the decay of the VACF of the random Lorentz gas with a single type of scatterer. The perturbation results and the exact ones (found up to 20 collision times) show good agreement.     

Two-dimensional random-random walks: Dynamical exponents in a quenched directed model

This paper presents a study of the dynamics of a particle undergoing a directed random walk in a two-dimensional disordered square lattice. We derive the asymptotical behaviors of the coordinate and of the mean square displacement. All the dynamical exponents are calculated both in the normal and the anomalous regimes. It is shown that, as contrasted to the one-dimensional case, the so-called quenched and annealed diffusion constants indeed coincide.     

Random walk properties of lattices and correlation factors for diffusion via the vacancy mechanism in crystals

Random walk properties and correlation factors for diffusion via the vacancy mechanism are calculated and compared for various three-dimensional lattices. By applying the theory of random walks on an imperfect lattice, the correlation factor for impurity diffusion is calculated rigorously for the five jump frequency model in the fee lattice.Presented at the Symposium on Random Walks, Gaithersburg, MD, June 1982.     

Diffusion in lattice Lorentz gases : Nearest scatterers approximation

The expressions for diffusion coefficients and for velocity autocorrelation functions of lattice Lorentz gases are derived both in the nearest scatterers and Boltzmann approximations. The results are obtained for linear chain, square, triangular, simple cubic, body centred cubic, face centred cubic and face centred hyper cubic lattices. The diffusion coefficients are compared with those from the effective medium approximation for the square lattice and with computer simulation results for triangular, simple cubic and body centred cubic lattices.     

An invariance principle for reversible Markov processes. Applications to random motions in random environments

We present an invariance principle for antisymmetric functions of a reversible Markov process which immediately implies convergence to Brownian motion for a wide class of random motions in random environments. We apply it to establish convergence to Brownian motion (i) for a walker moving in the infinite cluster of the two-dimensional bond percolation model, (ii) for ad-dimensional walker moving in a symmetric random environment under very mild assumptions on the distribution of the environment, (iii) for a tagged particle in ad-dimensional symmetric lattice gas which allows interchanges, (iv) for a tagged particle in ad-dimensional system of interacting Brownian particles. Our formulation also leads naturally to bounds on the diffusion constant.     

A Note on the Ruelle Pressure for a Dilute Disordered Sinai Billiard

The topological pressure is evaluated for a dilute random Lorentz gas, in the approximation that takes into account only uncorrelated collisions between the moving particle and fixed, hard sphere scatterers. The pressure is obtained analytically as a function of the temperature-like parameter, , and of the density of scatterers, n. The effects of correlated collisions on the topological pressure can be described qualitatively, at least, and they significantly modify the results obtained by considering only uncorrelated collision sequences. As a consequence, for large systems, the range of -values over which our expressions for the topological pressure are valid becomes very small, approaching zero, in most cases, as the inverse of the logarithm of system size.     

Boundary element method for calculation of elastic wave transmission in two-dimensional phononic crystals

A boundary element method (BEM) is presented to compute the transmission spectra of two-dimensional (2-D) phononic crystals of a square lattice which are finite along the x-direction and infinite along the y-direction. The cross sections of the scatterers may be circular or square. For a periodic cell, the boundary integral equations of the matrix and the scatterers are formulated. Substituting the periodic boundary conditions and the interface continuity conditions, a linear equation set is formed, from which the elastic wave transmission can be obtained. From the transmission spectra, the band gaps can be identified, which are compared with the band structures of the corresponding infinite systems. It is shown that generally the transmission spectra completely correspond to the band structures. In addition, the accuracy and the efficiency of the boundary element method are analyzed and discussed.     

A phase cell approach to Yang-Mills theory

For the abelian Yang-Mills theory, a one-to-one correspondence is established between continuum gauge potentials and compatible lattice configurations on an infinite sequence of finer and finer lattices. The compatibility is given by a block spin transformation determining the configuration on a lattice in terms of the configuration on any finer lattice. Thus the configuration on any single lattice is not an approximation to the continuum field, but rather a subset of the variables describing the field.It is proven that the Wilson actions on the lattices monotonically increase to the continuum action as one passes to finer and finer lattices. Configurations that minimize the continuum action, subject to having the variables fixed on some lattice, are studied.This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY-85-02074     

Random patterns generated by random permutations of natural numbers

We survey recent results on some one- and two-dimensional patterns generated by random permutations of natural numbers. In the first part, we discuss properties of random walks, evolving on a one-dimensional regular lattice in discrete time n, whose moves to the right or to the left are prescribed by the rise-and-descent sequence associated with a given random permutation. We determine exactly the probability of finding the trajectory of such a permutation-generated random walk at site X at time n, obtain the probability measure of different excursions and define the asymptotic distribution of the number of “U-turns" of the trajectories - permutation “peaks" and “through". In the second part, we focus on some statistical properties of surfaces obtained by randomly placing natural numbers 1,2,3, ...,L on sites of a 1d or 2d lattices containing L sites. We calculate the distribution function of the number of local “peaks" - sites the number at which is larger than the numbers appearing at nearest-neighboring sites - and discuss surprising collective behavior emerging in this model.     

Development of the new approach to the diffusion-limited reaction rate theory

The new approach to the diffusion-limited reaction rate theory, recently proposed by the author, is further developed on the base of a similar approach to Brownian coagulation. The traditional diffusion approach to calculation of the reaction rate is critically analyzed. In particular, it is shown that the traditional approach is applicable only in the special case of reactions with a large reaction radius, $\bar r_A \ll R_{AB} \ll \bar r_B $ (where $\bar r_A $ and $\bar r_B $ are the mean inter-particle distances), and becomes inappropriate in calculating the reaction rate in the case of a relatively small reaction radius, $R_{AB} \ll \bar r_A ,\bar r_B $ . In the latter case, most important for chemical reactions, particle collisions occur not in the diffusion regime but mainly in the kinetic regime characterized by homogeneous (random) spatial distribution of particles on the length scale of the mean inter-particle distance. The calculated reaction rate for a small reaction radius in three dimensions formally (and fortuitously) coincides with the expression derived in the traditional approach for reactions with a large reaction radius, but notably deviates at large times from the traditional result in the planar two-dimensional geometry. In application to reactions on discrete lattice sites, new relations for the reaction rate constants are derived for both three-dimensional and two-dimensional lattices.