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.     

Exciton emission dynamics in single InAs/GaAs quantum dots due to the existence of plasmon-field-induced metastable states in the wetting layer

A very long lifetime exciton emission with non-single exponential decay characteristics has been reported for single InA-s/GaAs quantum dot(QD) samples,in which there exists a long-lived metastable state in the wetting layer(WL)through radiative field coupling between the exciton emissions in the WL and the dipole field of metal islands.In this article we have proposed a new three-level model to simulate the exciton emission decay curve.In this model,assuming that the excitons in a metastable state will diffuse and be trapped by QDs,and then emit fluorescence in QDs,a stretchedlike exponential decay formula is derived as I(t)=At~(β-1)e~(-(rt)β),which can describe well the long lifetime decay curve with an analytical expression of average lifetime     

Forced Nonstationary Vibrations of a Sandwich Cylindrical Shell with Cross-Ribbed Core

The equations of nonaxisymmetric vibrations of sandwich cylindrical shells with discrete core under nonstationary loading are presented. The components of the elastic structure are analyzed using a refined Timoshenko theory of shells and rods. The numerical method used to solve the dynamic equations is based on the integro-interpolation method of constructing finite-difference schemes for equations with discontinuous coefficients. The dynamic problem for a sandwich cylindrical shell under distributed nonstationary loading is solved with regard for the discreteness of the core__________Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 60–67, February 2005.     

Dissipative Heating of a Viscoelastic Cylinder under a Load Steadily Moving over Its Surface

The Fourier method is used to find the analytical solutions to two-dimensional quasistatic problems of stationary polyharmonic vibrations and dissipative heating of a linearly viscoelastic cylinder. The influence of the cylinder thickness and the width of the loading area on the thermomechanical state of the cylinder is studied based on numerical data__________Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 23–32, February 2005.     

Bifurcations and chaos in parametrically excited single-degree-of-freedom systems

The behavior of single-degree-of-freedom systems possessing quadratic and cubic nonlinearities subject to parametric excitation is investigated. Both fundamental and principal parametric resonances are considered. A global bifurcation diagram in the excitation amplitude and excitation frequency domain is presented showing different possible stable steady-state solutions (attractors). Fractal basin maps for fundamental and principal parametric resonances when three attractors coexist are presented in color. An enlargement of one region of the map for principal parametric resonance reveals a Cantor-like set of fractal boundaries. For some cases, both periodic and chaotic attractors coexist.     

A nonlinear composite plate theory

A general nonlinear theory for the dynamics of elastic anisotropic plates undergoing moderate-rotation vibrations is presented. The theory fully accounts for geometric nonlinearities (moderate rotations and displacements) by using local stress and strain measures and an exact coordinate transformation, which result in nonlinear curvatures and strain-displacement expressions that contain the von Karman strains as a special case. The theory accounts for transverse shear deformations by using a third-order theory and for extensionality and changes in the configuration due to in-plane and transverse deformations. Five third-order nonlinear partial-differential equations of motion describing the extension-extension-bending-shear-shear vibrations of plates are obtained by an asymptotic analysis, which reveals that laminated plates display linear elastic and nonlinear geometric couplings among all motions.     

The chaotic response of a fluttering panel: The influence of maneuvering

The influence of maneuvering on the chaotic response of a fluttering buckled plate on an aircraft has been studied. The governing equations, derived using Lagrangian mechanics, include geometric non-linearities associated with the occurrence of tensile stresses, as well as coupling between the angular velocity of the maneuver and the elastic degrees of freedom. Numerical simulation for periodic and chaotic responses are conducted in order to analyze the influence of the pull-up maneuver on the dynamic behavior of the panel. Long-time histories phase-plane plots, and power spectra of the responses are presented. As the maneuver (load factor) increases, the system exhibits complicated dynamic behavior including a direct and inverse cascade of subharmonic bifurcations, intermittency, and chaos. Beside these classical routes of transition from a periodic state to chaos, our calculations suggest amplitude modulation as a possible new mode of transition to chaos. Consequently this research contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms through which the transition between periodic and strange attractors occurs in, dissipative mechanical systems. In the case of a prescribed time dependent maneuver, a remarkable transition between the different types of limit cycles is presented.Nomenclature a plate length - a _r u _r /h - D plate bending stiffness - E modulus of elasticity - g acceleration due to gravity - h plate thickness - j₁,j₂,j₃ base vectors of the body frame of reference - K spring constant - M Mach number - n 1 + ₀/g - N ₁ applied in-plane force - p–p aerodynamic pressure - P pa ⁴/Dh - q ₀/2 - Q _r generalized Lagrangian forces - R rotation matrix - R ₄ N, a ²/D - t time - kinetic energy - u plate deflection - u displacement of the structure - u _r modal amplitude - v₀ velocity - x coordinates in the inertial frame of reference - z coordinates in the body frame of reference - Ka/(Ka+Eh) - - elastic energy - 2qa ³/D - a/_mh - Poisson's ratio - material coordinates - air density - _m plate density - - _r prescribed functions - _r sin(r z/a) - angular velocity - a/v₀ - skew-symmetric matrix form of the angular velocity     

Spatial anisotropy: a method to study anisotropic flow in heavy ion collisions

We introduce a method to study anisotropic flow parameter v<,n> as a collective probe to Quark Gluon Plasma in relativistic heavy ion collisions. The emphasis is put on the use of the Fourier expansion of initial spatial azimuthal distributions of participant nucleons in the overlapped region. The coefficients ε<,n> of Fourier expansion are called the spatial anisotropy parameter for the n-th harmonic. We propose that collective dynamics can be studied by v<,n>/ε<,n>. In this paper, we will discuss in particular the second (n=2) and the fourth (n=4) harmonics.     

Electron-TO-phonon interaction in polar crystals

In the present work, the interaction between electrons and long-wavelength transverse optical (TO) vibrations in a polar insulator is considered. The crystal model employed for the theoretical analysis includes classical potentials and electronic polarizabilities. A significant enhancement of the strength of the electron-TO-phonon interaction in ferroelectrics has been found. A microscopic justification of this effect is given. A bridge that relates the interaction of electrons with the polar long-wavelength TO modes of lattice vibrations to the long-range dipole-dipole interaction is established. As an application of our analysis, a novel method for quantitative predictions of the electron-TO-phonon interaction constants in polar crystals via the data of experimental studies is suggested.     

Harmonic Force Field and Mean Amplitudes for Gallium Tribromide and Triiodide Dimers

Harmonic force fields are developed for the Ga₂Br₆ and Ga₂I₆ molecules. The analysis confirms previous assignments of experimental frequencies. Mean amplitudes of vibration are calculated.