Evolution in complex systems

What features characterize complex system dynamics? Power laws and scale invariance of fluctuations are often taken as the hallmarks of complexity, drawing on analogies with equilibrium critical phenomena. Here we argue that slow, directed dynamics, during which the system's properties change significantly, is fundamental. The underlying dynamics is related to a slow, decelerating but spasmodic release of an intrinsic strain or tension. Time series of a number of appropriate observables can be analyzed to confirm this effect. The strain arises from local frustration. As the strain is released through “quakes,” some system variable undergoes record statistics with accompanying log‐Poisson statistics for the quake event times. We demonstrate these phenomena via two very different systems: a model of magnetic relaxation in type II superconductors and the Tangled Nature model of evolutionary ecology and show how quantitative indications of aging can be found. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 10: 49–56, 2004     

Rotational spectra, conformational structures, and dipole moments of thiodiglycol by jet-cooled FTMW and ab initio calculations

The rotational spectra of three low-energy conformers of thiodiglycol (TDG) (HOCH₂CH₂SCH₂CH₂OH) have been measured in a molecular beam using a pulsed-nozzle Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer. To determine the likely conformational structures with ab initio approach, conformational structures of 2-(ethylthio)ethanol (HOEES) (CH₃CH₂SCH₂CH₂OH) were used as starting points together with the consideration of possible intramolecular hydrogen bonding in TDG. Three lower-energy conformers have been found for TDG at the MP2=Full/6311G** level and ab initio results agree nicely with experimentally determined rotational constants. In addition, Stark measurements were performed for two of the three conformers for dipole moment determinations, adding to our confidence of the conformational structure matches between experimental observations and ab initio calculations. Of the three lower-energy conformers, one displays a compact folded-like structure with strong hydrogen bonding between the two hydroxyl groups and the central sulfide atom. Two other conformers have relatively open chain-like structures with hydrogen bonding between each of the hydroxyl groups to the central sulfur atom, of which one has pure b-type dipole moment according to the ab initio results.     

Note on a conjecture of toft

A conjecture of Toft [17] asserts that any 4-critical graph (or equivalently, every 4-chromatic graph) contains a fully odd subdivision ofK ₄. We show that if a graphG has a degree three nodev such thatG-v is 3-colourable, then eitherG is 3-colourable or it contains a fully oddK ₄. This resolves Toft's conjecture in the special case where a 4-critical graph has a degree three node, which is in turn used to prove the conjecture for line-graphs. The proof is constructive and yields a polynomial algorithm which given a 3-degenerate graph either finds a 3-colouring or exhibits a subgraph that is a fully odd subdivision ofK ₄. (A graph is 3-degenerate if every subgraph has some node of degree at most three.)     

Dupin hypersurfaces with four principal Curvatures,II

If M is an isoparametric hypersurface in a sphere S ⁿ with four distinct principal curvatures, then the principal curvatures κ₁, . . . , κ₄ can be ordered so that their multiplicities satisfy m ₁ = m ₂ and m ₃ = m ₄, and the cross-ratio r of the principal curvatures (the Lie curvature) equals −1. In this paper, we prove that if M is an irreducible connected proper Dupin hypersurface in R ⁿ (or S ⁿ ) with four distinct principal curvatures with multiplicities m ₁ = m ₂ ≥ 1 and m ₃ = m ₄ = 1, and constant Lie curvature r = −1, then M is equivalent by Lie sphere transformation to an isoparametric hypersurface in a sphere. This result remains true if the assumption of irreducibility is replaced by compactness and r is merely assumed to be constant.      

Adaptive application of operators in standard representation

Recently adaptive wavelet methods have been developed which can be shown to exhibit an asymptotically optimal accuracy/work balance for a wide class of variational problems including classical elliptic boundary value problems, boundary integral equations as well as certain classes of noncoercive problems such as saddle point problems. A core ingredient of these schemes is the approximate application of the involved operators in standard wavelet representation. Optimal computational complexity could be shown under the assumption that the entries in properly compressed standard representations are known or computable in average at unit cost. In this paper we propose concrete computational strategies and show under which circumstances this assumption is justified in the context of elliptic boundary value problems. Dedicated to Charles A. Micchelli on the occasion of his 60th birthday Mathematics subject classifications (2000) 41A25, 41A46, 65F99, 65N12, 65N55. This work has been supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft SFB 401, the first and third author are supported in part by the European Community's Human Potential Programme under contract HPRN-CT-202-00286 (BREAKING COMPLEXITY). The second author acknowledges the financial support provided through the European Union's Human Potential Programme, under contract HPRN-CT-2002-00285 (HASSIP) and through DFG grant DA 360/4–1.     

Design and Cold Tests of Asymmetric Quasioptical Resonators

This paper presents the design and test of asymmetric quasioptical resonators for gyrotron applications, where most of the diffraction output coupling comes from the smaller of two mirrors. A computer code based on scalar diffraction theory is used to calculate the resonator losses and the electric field near the mirrors. Resonators with mirror separations approaching confocal have reduced side lobes in the diffraction patterns, which should allow for better power transmission and focusing. Cold tests have been performed at 94 and 141 GHz to measure the quality factor of the asymmetric resonators as a function of mirror separation and mirror misalignment. Typical resonator parameters include 65 cm mirror separation, 1-3% output coupling and 85% of the losses from the small mirror. A half-symmetric resonator with one flat and one curved mirror has also been investigated. The calculated values of Q are in reasonably good agreement with the cold test measurements.     

Specific carbon-13 labelling of leucine residues in human growth hormone.

Biosynthetic human growth hormone specifically 13C-labelled in the carbonyl positions of all 26 leucine residues has been obtained by recombinant DNA techniques using 13C-labelled leucine and an E. coli strain that requires leucine. It is shown that, on the whole, the labelling is specific with no significant mislabelling as would have been the case had the 13C-labelled leucine been metabolized.