Spontaneous emergence of modularity in a model of evolving individuals

We investigate the selective forces that promote the emergence of modularity in nature. We demonstrate the spontaneous emergence of modularity in a population of individuals that evolve in a changing environment. We show that the level of modularity correlates with the rapidity and severity of environmental change. The modularity arises as a synergistic response to the noise in the environment in the presence of horizontal gene transfer. We suggest that the hierarchical structure observed in the natural world may be a broken-symmetry state, which generically results from evolution in a changing environment.     

Spontaneous CP violation in a SUSY model with a complex CKM

It is pointed out that the recent measurement of the angle γ   of the unitarity triangle, providing irrefutable evidence for a complex Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa (CKM) matrix, presents a great challenge for supersymmetric models with spontaneous CP violation. We construct a new minimal extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), with spontaneous CP breaking, which leads to a complex CKM matrix, thus conforming to present experimental data. This is achieved through the introduction of two singlet chiral superfields and a vector-like quark chiral superfield which mixes with the standard quarks. A Z₃$Z_3$ symmetry is introduced in order to have a potential solution to the strong CP problem.     

A unified view of particles and fields in a simple model of a physical system

We start from the primitive concepts of preparticle and membership relation of set theory to obtain the derivative concepts of particle (already introduced in a previous work), field, and the interaction between systems of particles. We have explicitly stated, in addition, what the relationship between a system of particles and the field it produces is in the present model of physical systems. In order to discuss the motion of particles we have analyzed one of the possible definitions of a reference frame.On leave of absence from Instituto Venezolane de Investigaciones Científicas (I.V.I.C.).     

Bio-effects of high magnetic fields: a study using a simple animal model.

The desire to do clinical imaging and spectroscopy at magnetic field strengths greater than 2 Tesla (T) necessitates investigation of possible bioeffects at these high fields. A simple T-maze was utilized to evaluate the aversive effects of exposure to three levels of static magnetic field (0, 1.5, and 4 T). The right arm of the maze extended into the center of a 30-cm horizontal bore magnet, while the left arm extended into a mock magnet bore with the same dimensions. The self-shielded design of the magnet reduces the fringe field to zero within 1 m of the bore, placing the start box of the maze outside the 5-G line of the magnet. Each rat performed a total of ten trials at each level of magnetic field strength. A follow-up subset was run at 4 T with the maze reversed. At 0 T, the rats entered the magnet freely. No significant differences from the control were observed at 1.5 T. At 4 T, however, in 97% of the trials the rats would not enter the magnet. In the maze-reversed subset a majority of the rats turned toward the magnet, indicating that they had learned an aversive response from the previous trials at 4 T. However, in only 4 decisions out of 58 did the rats actually enter the magnet. Eighteen decisions to turn around were made at the edge of the magnet in a region of strong field gradients (up to 13 T/m) and a field strength up to 1.75 T.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Synchronization and emergence in complex systems

We show how novel behaviour can emerge in complex systems at the global level through synchronization of the activities of their constituent units. Two mechanisms are suggested for the emergence, namely non-diffusive coupling and time delays. In this way, simple units can synchronize to display complex dynamics, or conversely, simple dynamics may arise from complex constituents.     

Spontaneous emergence of spatio-temporal order in class 4 automata

We report surprisingly regular behaviors observed for a class 4 cellular automaton, the totalistic rule 20: starting from disordered initial configurations the automaton produces patterns which are periodic not only in time but also in space. This is the first evidence that different types of spatio-temporal order can emerge under specific conditions out of disorder in the same discrete rule based algorithm.     

Spontaneous emergence of periodic patterns in a biologically inspired simulation of photonic structures

We simulate an evolutionary process in the lab for designing a novel high confinement photonic structure, starting with a set of completely random patterns, with no insight on the initial geometrical pattern. We show a spontaneous emergence of periodical patterns as well as previously unseen high confinement subwavelength bowtie regions. The evolved structure has a Q of 300 and an ultrasmall modal volume of 0.112 (lambda/2n)3. The emergence of the periodic patterns in the structure indicates that periodicity is a principal condition for effective control of the distribution of light.     

A simple method for analyzing 51V solid-state NMR spectra of complex systems

Five vanadium complexes as models for biological systems were investigated using ⁵¹V-MAS–NMR spectroscopy. All spectra show an uncommon line shape, which can be attributed to a shorter relaxation time of the satellite transition in contrast to the central one. A method for the reliable analysis of such kind of spectra is presented for the first time and the most important NMR parameters of the investigated complexes (quadrupolar coupling constant C_Q, asymmetry of the EFG tensor η_Q, isotropic chemical shift δ_iso, chemical shift anisotropy δ_σ and asymmetry of the CSA tensor η_σ) are presented. These results are of particular importance with respect to the analysis of the ⁵¹V-MAS–NMR spectra of vanadium moieties in biological matrices such as vanadium chloroperoxidase, which show hitherto unexplained low intensity of the satellite sideband pattern.     

A simple study of the correlation effects in the superposition of waves of electric fields: The emergence of extreme events

In this paper, we study the effects of correlated random phases in the intensity of a superposition of N wavefields. Our results suggest that regardless of whether the phase distribution is continuous or discrete if they are random correlated variables, we will observe a denser tail distribution and the emergence of extreme events (amplitudes 30-40 times larger than their average) as the phases correlation increase. Recent results in the literature discuss the role of phase correlations on the emergence of rogue waves both in linear and nonlinear systems, but the mechanisms to generate them are not always straightforward. We show here a simple way to correlate the wavefield that makes it clear that rogue waves or denser tails appear mainly due to wave correlations instead of any particular system property.     

Jam emergence on a circular track in a car-following model

A discrete car-following model (a linear version of the Optimal Velocity Model) is evaluated for vehicles moving on a circular track. The model imposes physical limits on acceleration and deceleration. Braking is treated using a version of Gipps’ safety condition and incorporates the reaction time of drivers. Simulations with two versions of the model, one with a unique velocity-headway relationship and another with a non-unique relationship, show spontaneous emergence of a jam in agreement with the experiment of Sugiyama et al. [Y. Sugiyama, M. Fukui, M. Kikuchi, K. Hasebe, A. Nakayama, K. Nishinari, S. Tadaki, S. Yukawa, New J. Phys. 10 (2008) 033001].     

Transition between tonic spiking and bursting in a neuron model via the blue-sky catastrophe

We study a continuous and reversible transition between periodic tonic spiking and bursting activities in a neuron model. It is described as the blue-sky catastrophe, which is a homoclinic bifurcation of a saddle-node periodic orbit of codimension one. This transition constitutes a biophysically plausible mechanism for the regulation of burst duration that increases with no bound like 1/square root alpha-alpha0 as the transition value alpha0 is approached.     

Self-interaction correction in a simple model

We discuss various ways to handle self-interaction corrections (SIC) to Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. To that end, we use a simple model of few particles in a finite number of states together with a simple zero-range interaction for which full Hartree-Fock can easily be computed as a benchmark. The model allows to shed some light on the balance between orthonormality of the involved states and energy variance.     

Velocity autocorrelations in a simple model

A one-dimensional Lorentz-type model is studied where a point particle is reflected with some given probability p off randomly located fixed scatterers. The diffusion constant is calculated exactly, and the velocity autocorrelation is shown to decay like $\text{t}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, for 0<p<1. For finite times, there are oscillations superimposed on this power decay. For p → 1, these oscillations dominate the behaviour for all times.     

Period-doubling bifurcations in a simple model

Periodic solutions in a simple model, whose solution shows successive period-doubling bifurcations leading to chaotic motion, are calculated by using the harmonic balance method. The result is in good agreement with that of computer simulation.     

Spontaneous supersymmetry breaking and superconductivity in a non-relativistic model

The conjecture that supersymmetry breaking implies superconductivity is supported by the analysis of a class of supersymmetric non-relativistic models involving only fermions. Here the investigation is extened to a non-relativistic model involving both fermions and bosons, which in a sense is the non-relativistic version of the Wess-Zumino model. A sufficient condition is established for the validity of the conjecture. This condition can be possibly violated at most in a two-dimensional subspace of the three-dimensional space of the coupling constants.     

Impact of network activity on noise delayed spiking for a Hodgkin-Huxley model

In a Hodgkin-Huxley neuron model driven just above threshold, external noise can increase both jitter and latency of the first spike, an effect called “noise delayed decay” (NDD). This phenomenon is important when considering how neuronal information is represented, thus by the precise timing of spikes or by their rate. We examine how NDD can be affected by network activity by varying the model's membrane time constant, τ_m. We show that NDD is significant for small τ_m or high network activity, and decreases for large τ_m, or low network activity. Our results suggest that for inputs just above threshold, the activity of the network constrains the neuronal coding strategy due to, at least in part, the NDD effect.