Functional Interdependence in Coupled Dissipative Structures: Physical Foundations of Biological Coordination

Coordination within and between organisms is one of the most complex abilities of living systems, requiring the concerted regulation of many physiological constituents, and this complexity can be particularly difficult to explain by appealing to physics. A valuable framework for understanding biological coordination is the coordinative structure, a self-organized assembly of physiological elements that collectively performs a specific function. Coordinative structures are characterized by three properties: (1) multiple coupled components, (2) soft-assembly, and (3) functional organization. Coordinative structures have been hypothesized to be specific instantiations of dissipative structures, non-equilibrium, self-organized, physical systems exhibiting complex pattern formation in structure and behaviors. We pursued this hypothesis by testing for these three properties of coordinative structures in an electrically-driven dissipative structure. Our system demonstrates dynamic reorganization in response to functional perturbation, a behavior of coordinative structures called reciprocal compensation. Reciprocal compensation is corroborated by a dynamical systems model of the underlying physics. This coordinated activity of the system appears to derive from the system’s intrinsic end-directed behavior to maximize the rate of entropy production. The paper includes three primary components: (1) empirical data on emergent coordinated phenomena in a physical system, (2) computational simulations of this physical system, and (3) theoretical evaluation of the empirical and simulated results in the context of physics and the life sciences. This study reveals similarities between an electrically-driven dissipative structure that exhibits end-directed behavior and the goal-oriented behaviors of more complex living systems.     

Accumulation of Particles and Formation of a Dissipative Structure in a Nonequilibrium Bath

The standard textbooks contain good explanations of how and why equilibrium thermodynamics emerges in a reservoir with particles that are subjected to Gaussian noise. However, in systems that convert or transport energy, the noise is often not Gaussian. Instead, displacements exhibit an α-stable distribution. Such noise is commonly called Lévy noise. With such noise, we see a thermodynamics that deviates from what traditional equilibrium theory stipulates. In addition, with particles that can propel themselves, so-called active particles, we find that the rules of equilibrium thermodynamics no longer apply. No general nonequilibrium thermodynamic theory is available and understanding is often ad hoc. We study a system with overdamped particles that are subjected to Lévy noise. We pick a system with a geometry that leads to concise formulae to describe the accumulation of particles in a cavity. The nonhomogeneous distribution of particles can be seen as a dissipative structure, i.e., a lower-entropy steady state that allows for throughput of energy and concurrent production of entropy. After the mechanism that maintains nonequilibrium is switched off, the relaxation back to homogeneity represents an increase in entropy and a decrease of free energy. For our setup we can analytically connect the nonequilibrium noise and active particle behavior to entropy decrease and energy buildup with simple and intuitive formulae.     

A Drive towards Thermodynamic Efficiency for Dissipative Structures in Chemical Reaction Networks

Dissipative accounts of structure formation show that the self-organisation of complex structures is thermodynamically favoured, whenever these structures dissipate free energy that could not be accessed otherwise. These structures therefore open transition channels for the state of the universe to move from a frustrated, metastable state to another metastable state of higher entropy. However, these accounts apply as well to relatively simple, dissipative systems, such as convection cells, hurricanes, candle flames, lightning strikes, or mechanical cracks, as they do to complex biological systems. Conversely, interesting computational properties—that characterize complex biological systems, such as efficient, predictive representations of environmental dynamics—can be linked to the thermodynamic efficiency of underlying physical processes. However, the potential mechanisms that underwrite the selection of dissipative structures with thermodynamically efficient subprocesses is not completely understood. We address these mechanisms by explaining how bifurcation-based, work-harvesting processes—required to sustain complex dissipative structures—might be driven towards thermodynamic efficiency. We first demonstrate a simple mechanism that leads to self-selection of efficient dissipative structures in a stochastic chemical reaction network, when the dissipated driving chemical potential difference is decreased. We then discuss how such a drive can emerge naturally in a hierarchy of self-similar dissipative structures, each feeding on the dissipative structures of a previous level, when moving away from the initial, driving disequilibrium.     

Time Evolution in Macroscopic Systems. II. The Entropy

The concept of entropy in nonequilibrium macroscopic systems is investigated in the light of an extended equation of motion for the density matrix obtained in a previous study. It is found that a time-dependent information entropy can be defined unambiguously, but it is the time derivative or entropy production that governs ongoing processes in these systems. The differences in physical interpretation and thermodynamic role of entropy in equilibrium and nonequilibrium systems is emphasized and the observable aspects of entropy production are noted. A basis for nonequilibrium thermodynamics is also outlined.     

A Photon Force and Flow for Dissipative Structuring: Application to Pigments,Plants and Ecosystems

Through a modern derivation of Planck’s formula for the entropy of an arbitrary beam of photons, we derive a general expression for entropy production due to the irreversible process of the absorption of an arbitrary incident photon spectrum in material and its dissipation into an infrared-shifted grey-body emitted spectrum, with the rest being reflected or transmitted. Employing the framework of Classical Irreversible Thermodynamic theory, we define the generalized thermodynamic flow as the flow of photons from the incident beam into the material and the generalized thermodynamic force is, then, the entropy production divided by the photon flow, which is the entropy production per unit photon at a given wavelength. We compare the entropy production of different inorganic and organic materials (water, desert, leaves and forests) under sunlight and show that organic materials are the greater entropy-producing materials. Intriguingly, plant and phytoplankton pigments (including chlorophyll) reach peak absorption exactly where entropy production through photon dissipation is maximal for our solar spectrum 430<λ<550 nm, while photosynthetic efficiency is maximal between 600 and 700 nm. These results suggest that the evolution of pigments, plants and ecosystems has been towards optimizing entropy production, rather than photosynthesis. We propose using the wavelength dependence of global entropy production as a biosignature for discovering life on planets of other stars.     

Entropy Production: From Open Volume-Preserving to Dissipative Systems

We generalize Gaspard's method for computing the -entropy production rate in Hamiltonian systems to dissipative systems with attractors considered earlier by Tél, Vollmer, and Breymann. This approach leads to a natural definition of a coarse-grained Gibbs entropy which is extensive, and which can be expressed in terms of the SRB measures and volumes of the coarse-graining sets which cover the attractor. One can also study the entropy and entropy production as functions of the degree of resolution of the coarse-graining process, and examine the limit as the coarse-graining size approaches zero. We show that this definition of the Gibbs entropy leads to a positive rate of irreversible entropy production for reversible dissipative systems. We apply the method to the case of a two-dimensional map, based upon a model considered by Vollmer, Tél, and Breymann, that is a deterministic version of a biased-random walk. We treat both volume-preserving and dissipative versions of the basic map, and make a comparison between the two cases. We discuss the -entropy production rate as a function of the size of the coarse-graining cells for these biased-random walks and, for an open system with flux boundary conditions, show regions of exponential growth and decay of the rate of entropy production as the size of the cells decreases. This work describes in some detail the relation between the results of Gaspard, those of of Tél, Vollmer, and Breymann, and those of Ruelle, on entropy production in various systems described by Anosov or Anosov-like maps.     

On the entropy production for the Davies model of heat conduction

The formula for the entropy production in open quantum systems is examined for the Davies model of heat conduction.This work is supported by Polish Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology, project MRI 7.     

Evolution of Dissipative Anisotropic Expansion-Free Axial Fluids

A general study of non-static restricted class of axial system with anisotropic dissipative expansion-free fluid under geodesic condition is carried out. It is found that expansion-free model must be dissipative under geodesic condition to preserve axial symmetry. We also investigate this system without geodesic condition. Finally, the role of dissipation is explored via transport equation.     

昂色格倒易关系在耐火纤维传热研究中的运用

本文使用昂色格倒易关系对耐火纤维传热过程中的辐射与导热耦合换热进行研究,并通过拟合与数值模拟,总结得出昂色格倒易关系可用于研究多种不同性质基本过程相互耦合的现象。     

Energy Profile Fluctuations in Dissipative Nonequilibrium Stationary States

The exact large deviation function (ldf) for the fluctuations of the energy density field is computed for a chain of Ising (or more generally Potts) spins driven by a zero-temperature (dissipative) Glauber dynamics and sustained in a nontrivial stationary regime by an arbitrary energy injection mechanism at the boundary of the system. It is found that this ldf is independent of the dynamical details of the energy injection, and that the energy fluctuations, unlike conservative systems in a nonequilibrium state, are not spatially correlated in the stationary regime.This revised version was published online in March 2005 with corrections to the page numbers.     

Time-Reversal and Entropy

There is a relation between the irreversibility of thermodynamic processes as expressed by the breaking of time-reversal symmetry, and the entropy production in such processes. We explain on an elementary mathematical level the relations between entropy production, phase-space contraction and time-reversal starting from a deterministic dynamics. Both closed and open systems, in the transient and in the steady regime, are considered. The main result identifies under general conditions the statistical mechanical entropy production as the source term of time-reversal breaking in the path space measure for the evolution of reduced variables. This provides a general algorithm for computing the entropy production and to understand in a unified way a number of useful (in)equalities. We also discuss the Markov approximation. Important are a number of old theoretical ideas for connecting the microscopic dynamics with thermodynamic behavior.     

Positivity of Entropy Production

We discuss the positivity of the mean entropy production for stochastic systems driven from equilibrium, as it was defined in refs. 7 and 8. Non-zero entropy production is closely linked with violation of the detailed balance condition. This connection is rigorously obtained for spinflip dynamics. We remark that the positivity of entropy production depends on the choice of time-reversal transformation, hence on the choice of the dynamical variables in the system of interest.     

Nonlinear Dispersive and Dissipative Electrostatic Structures in Two-Dimensional Electron-Positron-Ion Quantum Plasma

The nonlinear features of two-dimensional ion acoustic(IA) solitary and shock structures in a dissipative electron-positron-ion(EPI) quantum plasma are investigated. The dissipation in the system is taken into account by incorporating the kinematic viscosity of ions in plasmas. A quantum hydrodynamic(QHD) model is used to describe the quantum plasma system. The propagation of small but finite amplitude solitons and shocks is governed by the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili-Burger(KPB) equation. It is observed that depending on the values of plasma parameters(viz.quantum diffraction, positron concentration, viscosity), both compressive and rarefactive solitons and shocks are found to exist. Furthermore, the energy of the soliton is computed and possible solutions of the KPB equation are presented numerically in terms of the monotonic and oscillatory shock profiles     

An Evolution Based on Various Energy Strategies

The simplest model of the evolution of agents with different energy strategies is considered. The model is based on the most general thermodynamic ideas and includes the procedures for selection, inheritance, and variability. The problem of finding a universal strategy (principle) as a selection of possible competing strategies is solved. It is shown that when there is non-equilibrium between the medium and agents, a direction in the evolution of agents arises, but at the same time, depending on the conditions of the evolution, different strategies can be successful. However, for this case, the simulation results reveal that in the presence of significant competition of agents, the strategy that has the maximum total energy dissipation of agents arising as a result of evolution turns out to be successful. Thus, it is not the specific strategy that is universal, but the maximization of dissipation. This result discovers an interesting connection between the basic principles of Darwin–Wallace evolution and the maximum entropy production principle.     

Heat Conduction Networks

We study networks of interacting oscillators, driven at the boundary by heat baths at possibly different temperatures. A set of first elementary questions are discussed concerning the uniqueness of a stationary possibly Gibbsian density and the nature of the entropy production and the local heat currents. We also derive a Carnot efficiency relation for the work that can be extracted from the heat engine.     

Entropy Production in Nonlinear,Thermally Driven Hamiltonian Systems

We consider a finite chain of nonlinear oscillators coupled at its ends to two infinite heat baths which are at different temperatures. Using our earlier results about the existence of a stationary state, we show rigorously that for arbitrary temperature differences and arbitrary couplings, such a system has a unique stationary state. (This extends our earlier results for small temperature differences.) In all these cases, any initial state will converge (at an unknown rate) to the stationary state. We show that this stationary state continually produces entropy. The rate of entropy production is strictly negative when the temperatures are unequal and is proportional to the mean energy flux through the system     

耗散腔场中两个∧型原子的纠缠特性

利用超算符方法求解幅值损耗腔中两个∧型三能级原子与相干光场相互作用系统的主方程,并利用量子条件熵研究了两个初始为|Ψa(0)＞和|Φa(0)＞纠缠态的原子与光场作用过程中原子的纠缠演化特性.讨论了不同初始原子纠缠度,不同耗散系数以及不同平均光子数对两原子纠缠度的影响.结果表明:①当原子初始处于|Ψa(0)＞类纠缠态时,其纠缠度随光场强度以及腔场衰减系数演化.当腔不存在耗散时,纠缠度呈周期性振荡;当腔存在耗散时,纠缠度呈衰减振荡并趋于稳定值;且光强越弱,其稳定值越大;衰减系数越大纠缠达到稳定值所需时间越短.②原子初始处于|Φa(0)＞类纠缠态时,其纠缠度只与原子初始纠缠度有关,不随其他因素变化.     

Analogues of Coherent and Dissipative Structures in Social and Historical Processes

An analogy between social and hydrodynamic processes is developed. The relation of the state system to the passionarity theory suggested by L. N. Gumilev is discussed.     

Time Dependence of Entropy Flux and Entropy Production of a Dissipative Dynamical System Driven by Non-Gaussian Noise

A stochastic dissipative dynamical system driven by non-Gaussian noise is investigated. A general approximate Fokker-Planck equation of the system is derived through a path-integral approach. Based on the definition of Shannon＇s information entropy, the exact time dependence of entropy flux and entropy production of the system is calculated both in the absence and in the presence of non-equilibrium constraint. The present calculation can be used to interpret the interplay of the dissipative constant and non-Gaussian noise on the entropy flux and entropy production.