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Leveraging large-deviation statistics to decipher the stochastic properties of measured trajectories
(2021)
Extensive time-series encoding the position of particles such as viruses, vesicles, or individualproteins are routinely garnered insingle-particle tracking experiments or supercomputing studies.They contain vital clues on how viruses spread or drugs may be delivered in biological cells.Similar time-series are being recorded of stock values in financial markets and of climate data.Such time-series are most typically evaluated in terms of time-averaged mean-squareddisplacements (TAMSDs), which remain random variables for finite measurement times. Theirstatistical properties are different for differentphysical stochastic processes, thus allowing us toextract valuable information on the stochastic process itself. To exploit the full potential of thestatistical information encoded in measured time-series we here propose an easy-to-implementand computationally inexpensive new methodology, based on deviations of the TAMSD from itsensemble average counterpart. Specifically, we use the upper bound of these deviations forBrownian motion (BM) to check the applicability of this approach to simulated and real data sets.By comparing the probability of deviations fordifferent data sets, we demonstrate how thetheoretical bound for BM reveals additional information about observed stochastic processes. Weapply the large-deviation method to data sets of tracer beads tracked in aqueous solution, tracerbeads measured in mucin hydrogels, and of geographic surface temperature anomalies. Ouranalysis shows how the large-deviation properties can be efficiently used as a simple yet effectiveroutine test to reject the BM hypothesis and unveil relevant information on statistical propertiessuch as ergodicity breaking and short-time correlations.
Partial synchronous states appear between full synchrony and asynchrony and exhibit many interesting properties. Most frequently, these states are studied within the framework of phase approximation. The latter is used ubiquitously to analyze coupled oscillatory systems. Typically, the phase dynamics description is obtained in the weak coupling limit, i.e., in the first-order in the coupling strength. The extension beyond the first-order represents an unsolved problem and is an active area of research. In this paper, three partially synchronous states are investigated and presented in order of increasing complexity. First, the usage of the phase response curve for the description of macroscopic oscillators is analyzed. To achieve this, the response of the mean-field oscillations in a model of all-to-all coupled limit-cycle oscillators to pulse stimulation is measured. The next part treats a two-group Kuramoto model, where the interaction of one attractive and one repulsive group results in an interesting solitary state, situated between full synchrony and self-consistent partial synchrony. In the last part, the phase dynamics of a relatively simple system of three Stuart-Landau oscillators are extended beyond the weak coupling limit. The resulting model contains triplet terms in the high-order phase approximation, though the structural connections are only pairwise. Finally, the scaling of the new terms with the coupling is analyzed.
Global quantum thermometry
(2021)
A paradigm shift in quantum thermometry is proposed. To date, thermometry has relied on local estimation, which is useful to reduce statistical fluctuations once the temperature is very well known. In order to estimate temperatures in cases where few measurement data or no substantial prior knowledge are available, we build instead a method for global quantum thermometry. Based on scaling arguments, a mean logarithmic error is shown here to be the correct figure of merit for thermometry. Its full minimization provides an operational and optimal rule to postprocess measurements into a temperature reading, and it establishes a global precision limit. We apply these results to the simulated outcomes of measurements on a spin gas, finding that the local approach can lead to biased temperature estimates in cases where the global estimator converges to the true temperature. The global framework thus enables a reliable approach to data analysis in thermometry experiments.
Context. The intergalactic medium (IGM) is believed to contain the majority of baryons in the universe and to trace the same dark matter structure as galaxies, forming filaments and sheets. Ly alpha absorbers, which sample the neutral component of the IGM, have been extensively studied at low and high redshift, but the exact relation between Ly alpha absorption, galaxies, and the large-scale structure is observationally not well constrained.Aims. In this study, we aim at characterising the relation between Ly alpha absorbers and nearby over-dense cosmological structures (galaxy filaments) at recession velocities Delta v <= 6700 km s(-1) by using archival observational data from various instruments.Methods. We analyse 587 intervening Ly alpha absorbers in the spectra of 302 extragalactic background sources obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We combine the absorption line information with galaxy data of five local galaxy filaments from the V8k catalogue.Results. Along the 91 sightlines that pass close to a filament, we identify 215 (227) Ly alpha absorption systems (components). Among these, 74 Ly alpha systems are aligned in position and velocity with the galaxy filaments, indicating that these absorbers and the galaxies trace the same large-scale structure. The filament-aligned Ly alpha absorbers have a similar to 90% higher rate of incidence (d?/dz=189 for log N(HI) >= 13.2) and a slightly shallower column density distribution function slope (-beta=-1.47) relative to the general Ly alpha population at z=0, reflecting the filaments' matter over-density. The strongest Ly alpha absorbers are preferentially found near galaxies or close to the axis of a filament, although there is substantial scatter in this relation. Our sample of absorbers clusters more strongly around filament axes than a randomly distributed sample would do (as confirmed by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test), but the clustering signal is less pronounced than for the galaxies in the filaments.
The study of exoplanet atmospheres showed large diversity compared to the planets in our Solar system. Especially Jupiter-type exoplanets orbiting their host star in close orbits, the so-called hot and ultra-hot Jupiters, have been studied in detail due to their enhanced atmospheric signature. Due to their tidally locked status, the temperature difference between the day- and nightside triggers atmospheric winds that can lead to various fingerprints in the observations. Spatially resolved absorption lines during transit such as sodium (Na) could be a good tracer for such winds. Different works resolved the Na absorption lines on different exoplanets which show different line widths. Assuming that this could be attributed to such zonal jet streams, this work models the effect of such winds on synthetic absorption lines. For this, transiting Jupiter-type planets with rotational velocities similar to hot and ultra-hot Jupiter are considered. The investigation shows that high wind velocities could reproduce the broadening of Na-line profiles inferred in different high-resolution transit observations. There is a tendency that the broadening values decrease for planets with lower equilibrium temperature. This could be explained by atmospheric drag induced by the ionization of alkali lines that slow down the zonal jet streams, favouring their existence on hot Jupiter rather than ultra-hot Jupiter.
Reciprocal space slicing
(2021)
An experimental technique that allows faster assessment of out-of-plane strain dynamics of thin film heterostructures via x-ray diffraction is presented. In contrast to conventional high-speed reciprocal space-mapping setups, our approach reduces the measurement time drastically due to a fixed measurement geometry with a position-sensitive detector. This means that neither the incident (ω) nor the exit (2θ) diffraction angle is scanned during the strain assessment via x-ray diffraction. Shifts of diffraction peaks on the fixed x-ray area detector originate from an out-of-plane strain within the sample. Quantitative strain assessment requires the determination of a factor relating the observed shift to the change in the reciprocal lattice vector. The factor depends only on the widths of the peak along certain directions in reciprocal space, the diffraction angle of the studied reflection, and the resolution of the instrumental setup. We provide a full theoretical explanation and exemplify the concept with picosecond strain dynamics of a thin layer of NbO2.
Wolf-Rayet stars are amongst the rarest but also most intriguing massive stars. Their extreme stellar winds induce famous multiwavelength circumstellar gas nebulae of various morphologies, spanning from circles and rings to bipolar shapes. This study is devoted to the investigation of the formation of young, asymmetric Wolf-Rayet gas nebulae and we present a 2.5-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamical toy model for the simulation of Wolf-Rayet gas nebulae generated by wind-wind interaction. Our method accounts for stellar wind asymmetries, rotation, magnetization, evolution, and mixing of materials. It is found that the morphology of the Wolf-Rayet nebulae of blue supergiant ancestors is tightly related to the wind geometry and to the stellar phase transition time interval, generating either a broadened peanut-like or a collimated jet-like gas nebula. Radiative transfer calculations of our Wolf-Rayet nebulae for dust infrared emission at 24 mu m show that the projected diffuse emission can appear as oblate, bipolar, ellipsoidal, or ring structures. Important projection effects are at work in shaping observed Wolf-Rayet nebulae. This might call a revision of the various classifications of Wolf-Rayet shells, which are mostly based on their observed shape. Particularly, our models question the possibility of producing pre-Wolf-Rayet wind asymmetries, responsible for bipolar nebulae like NGC 6888, within the single red supergiant evolution channel scenario. We propose that bipolar Wolf-Rayet nebulae can only be formed within the red supergiant scenario by multiple/merged massive stellar systems, or by single high-mass stars undergoing additional, e.g. blue supergiant, evolutionary stages prior to the Wolf-Rayet phase.
Human migration is often studied using gravity models. These models, however, have known limitations, including analytic inconsistencies and a dependence on empirical data to calibrate multiple parameters for the region of interest. Overcoming these limitations, the radiation model has been proposed as an alternative, universal approach to predicting different forms of human mobility, but has not been adopted for studying migration. Here we show, using data on within-country migration from the USA and Mexico, that the radiation model systematically underpredicts long-range moves, while the traditional gravity model performs well for large distances. The universal opportunity model, an extension of the radiation model, shows an improved fit of long-range moves compared to the original radiation model, but at the cost of introducing two additional parameters. We propose a more parsimonious extension of the radiation model that introduces a single parameter. We demonstrate that it fits the data over the full distance spectrum and also-unlike the universal opportunity model-preserves the analytical property of the original radiation model of being equivalent to a gravity model in the limit of a uniform population distribution.
'Complex systems are information processors' is a statement that is frequently made. Here we argue for the distinction between information processing-in the sense of encoding and transmitting a symbolic representation-and the formation of correlations (pattern formation/self-organisation). The study of both uses tools from information theory, but the purpose is very different in each case: explaining the mechanisms and understanding the purpose or function in the first case, versus data analysis and correlation extraction in the latter. We give examples of both and discuss some open questions. The distinction helps focus research efforts on the relevant questions in each case.
High-resolution observations of polar crown and high-latitude filaments are scarce. We present a unique sample of such filaments observed in high-resolution H alpha narrow-band filtergrams and broad-band images, which were obtained with a new fast camera system at the Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT), Tenerife, Spain. The Chromospheric Telescope (ChroTel) provided full-disk context observations in H alpha, CaiiK, and Hei 10830 angstrom. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) provided line-of-sight magnetograms and ultraviolet (UV) 1700 angstrom filtergrams, respectively. We study filigree in the vicinity of polar crown and high-latitude filaments and relate their locations to magnetic concentrations at the filaments' footpoints. Bright points are a well studied phenomenon in the photosphere at low latitudes, but they were not yet studied in the quiet network close to the poles. We examine size, area, and eccentricity of bright points and find that their morphology is very similar to their counterparts at lower latitudes, but their sizes and areas are larger. Bright points at the footpoints of polar crown filaments are preferentially located at stronger magnetic flux concentrations, which are related to bright regions at the border of supergranules as observed in UV filtergrams. Examining the evolution of bright points on three consecutive days reveals that their amount increases while the filament decays, which indicates they impact the equilibrium of the cool plasma contained in filaments.
Non-geminate recombination, as one of the most relevant loss mechanisms in organic and perovskite solar cells, deserves special attention in research efforts to further increase device performance. It can be subdivided into first, second, and third order processes, which can be elucidated by the effects that they have on the time-dependent open-circuit voltage decay. In this study, analytical expressions for the open-circuit voltage decay exhibiting one of the aforementioned recombination mechanisms were derived. It was possible to support the analytical models with experimental examples of three different solar cells, each of them dominated either by first (PBDBT:CETIC-4F), second (PM6:Y6), or third (irradiated CH3NH3PbI3) order recombination. Furthermore, a simple approach to estimate the dominant recombination process was also introduced and tested on these examples. Moreover, limitations of the analytical models and the measurement technique itself were discussed.
BACKGROUND
Anticipating changes in international migration patterns is useful for demographic studies and for designing policies that support the well-being of those involved. Existing forecasting methods do not account for a number of stylized facts that emerge from large-scale migration observations and theories: existing migrant communities - diasporas - act to lower migration costs and thereby provide a mechanism of self-amplification; return migration and transit migration are important components of global migration flows; and poverty constrains emigration.
OBJECTIVE
Here we present hindcasts and future projections of international migration that explicitly account for these nonlinear features.
METHODS
We develop a dynamic model that simulates migration flows by origin, destination, and place of birth. We calibrate the model using recently constructed global datasets of bilateral migration.
RESULTS
We show that the model reproduces past patterns and trends well based only on initial migrant stocks and changes in national incomes. We then project migration flows under future scenarios of global socioeconomic development.
CONCLUSIONS
Different assumptions about income levels and between-country inequality lead to markedly different migration trajectories, with migration flows either converging towards net zero if incomes in presently poor countries catch up with the rest of the world; or remaining high or even rising throughout the 21st century if economic development is slower and more unequal. Importantly, diasporas induce significant inertia and sizable return migration flows.
In this work, we investigate the potassium excess absorption around 7699 Å of the exoplanets HD189733b and HD209458b. For this purpose, we used high-spectral resolution transit observations acquired with the 2 × 8.4 m Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) and the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument (PEPSI). For a bandwidth of 0.8 Å, we present a detection >7σ with an absorption level of 0.18 per cent for HD189733b. Applying the same analysis to HD209458b, we can set 3σ upper limit of 0.09 per cent, even though we do not detect a K-excess absorption. The investigation suggests that the K feature is less present in the atmosphere of HD209458b than in the one of HD189733b. This comparison confirms previous claims that the atmospheres of these two planets must have fundamentally different properties.
Context.
Blue horizontal-branch stars evolve from low-mass stars that have completed their main-sequence lifetimes and undergone a helium flash at the end of their red-giant phase. As such, blue horizontal-branch stars are very old objects that can be used as markers in studies of the Galactic structure and formation history. To create a clean sky catalogue of blue horizontal-branch stars, we cross-matched the Gaia data release 2 (DR2) dataset with existing reference catalogues to define selection criteria based on Gaia DR2 parameters. Following the publication of Gaia early data release 3 (EDR3), these methods were verified and subsequently applied to this latest release.
Aims.
Previous catalogues of blue horizontal-branch stars were developed using spectral analyses or were restricted to individual globular clusters. The purpose of this catalogue is to identify a set of blue horizontal-branch star candidates that have been selected using photometric and astrometric observations and exhibits a low contamination rate. This has been deemed important as the success of the Gaia mission has changed the way that targets are selected for large-scale spectroscopic surveys, meaning that far fewer spectra will be acquired for blue horizontal-branch stars in the future unless they are specifically targeted. <br /> Methods. We cross-matched reference blue horizontal-branch datasets with the Gaia DR2 database and defined two sets of selection criteria. Firstly, in Gaia DR2 - colour and absolute G magnitude space, and secondly, in Gaia DR2 - colour and reduced proper motion space. The main-sequence contamination in both subsets of the catalogue was reduced, at the expense of completeness, by concentrating on the Milky Way's Galactic halo, where relatively young main-sequence stars were not expected. The entire catalogue is limited to those stars with no apparent neighbours within 5 arcsec. These methods were verified and subsequently applied to the Gaia EDR3.
Results.
We present a catalogue, based on Gaia EDR3, of 57 377 blue horizontal-branch stars. The Gaia EDR3 parallax was used in selecting 16 794 candidates and the proper motions were used to identify a further 40 583 candidates.
The layered dichalcogenide MoS2 is relevant for electrochemical Li adsorption/intercalation, in the course of which the material undergoes a concomitant structural phase transition from semiconducting 2H-MoS2 to metallic 1T-LixMoS2. With the core hole clock approach at the S L1 X-ray absorption edge we quantify the ultrafast directional charge transfer of excited S3p electrons in-plane () and out-of-plane (perpendicular to) for 2H-MoS2 as tau 2H,=0.38 +/- 0.08 fs and tau 2H,perpendicular to =0.33 +/- 0.06 fs and for 1T-LixMoS2 as tau 1T,=0.32 +/- 0.12 fs and tau 1T,perpendicular to =0.09 +/- 0.07 fs. The isotropic charge delocalization of S3p electrons in the semiconducting 2H phase within the S-Mo-S sheets is assigned to the specific symmetry of the Mo-S bonding arrangement. Formation of 1T-LixMoS2 by lithiation accelerates the in-plane charge transfer by a factor of similar to 1.2 due to electron injection to the Mo-S covalent bonds and concomitant structural repositioning of S atoms within the S-Mo-S sheets. For excitation into out-of-plane orbitals, an accelerated charge transfer by a factor of similar to 3.7 upon lithiation occurs due to S-Li coupling.
In order to explain the variance of the solar rotation law during the activity minima and maxima, the angular momentum transport by rotating magnetoconvection is simulated in a convective box penetrated by an inclined azimuthal magnetic field. Turbulence-induced kinetic and magnetic stresses and the Lorentz force of the large-scale magnetic background field are the basic transporters of angular momentum. Without rotation, the sign of the magnetic stresses naturally depends on the signs of the field components as positive (negative) B theta B phi transport the angular momentum poleward (equatorward). For fast enough rotation, however, the turbulence-originated Reynolds stresses start to dominate the transport of the angular momentum flux. The simulations show that positive ratios of the two meridional magnetic field components to the azimuthal field reduce the inward radial as well as the equatorward latitudinal transport, which result from hydrodynamic calculations. Only for B theta B phi>0 (generated by solar-type rotation laws with an accelerated equator) does the magnetic-influenced rotation at the solar surface prove to be flatter than the nonmagnetic profile together with the observed slight spin-down of the equator. The latter phenomenon does not appear for antisolar rotation with polar vortex as well as for rotation laws with prevailing radial shear.
The ultrafast photo-induced ring opening of the oxirane derivative trans-stilbene oxide has been studied through the use of ultrafast UV/UV pump-probe spectroscopy by using photo-ion detection. Single- and multiphoton probe paths and final states were identified through comparisons between UV power studies and synchrotron-based vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) single-photon ionization studies. Three major time-dependent features of the parent ion (sub-450 fs decay, (1.5 +/- 0.2) ps, and >100 ps) were observed. These decays are discussed in conjunction with the primary ring-opening mechanism of stilbene oxide, which occurs through C-C dissociation in the oxirane ring. The appearance of fragments relating to the masses of dehydrogenated diphenylmethane (167 amu) and dehydrogenated methylbenzene (90 amu) were also investigated. The appearance of the 167 amu fragment could suggest an alternative ultrafast ring-opening pathway via the dissociation of one of the C-O bonds within the oxirane ring.
The past and future evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is largely controlled by interactions between the ocean and floating ice shelves. To investigate these interactions, coupled ocean and ice sheet model configurations are required. Previous modelling studies have mostly relied on high-resolution configurations, limiting these studies to individual glaciers or regions over short timescales of decades to a few centuries. We present a framework to couple the dynamic ice sheet model PISM (Parallel Ice Sheet Model) with the global ocean general circulation model MOM5 (Modular Ocean Model) via the ice shelf cavity model PICO (Pots-dam Ice-shelf Cavity mOdel). As ice shelf cavities are not resolved by MOM5 but are parameterized with the PICO box model, the framework allows the ice sheet and ocean components to be run at resolutions of 16 km and 3 degrees respectively. This approach makes the coupled configuration a useful tool for the analysis of interactions between the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the global ocean over time spans of the order of centuries to millennia. In this study, we describe the technical implementation of this coupling framework: sub-shelf melting in the ice sheet component is calculated by PICO from modelled ocean temperatures and salinities at the depth of the continental shelf, and, vice versa, the resulting mass and energy fluxes from melting at the ice-ocean interface are transferred to the ocean component. Mass and energy fluxes are shown to be conserved to machine precision across the considered component domains. The implementation is computationally efficient as it introduces only minimal overhead. Furthermore, the coupled model is evaluated in a 4000 year simulation under constant present-day climate forcing and is found to be stable with respect to the ocean and ice sheet spin-up states. The framework deals with heterogeneous spatial grid geometries, varying grid resolutions, and timescales between the ice and ocean component in a generic way; thus, it can be adopted to a wide range of model set-ups.
Fractional Brownian motion in superharmonic potentials and non-Boltzmann stationary distributions
(2021)
We study the stochastic motion of particles driven by long-range correlated fractional Gaussian noise (FGN) in a superharmonic external potential of the form U(x) proportional to x(2n) (n is an element of N). When the noise is considered to be external, the resulting overdamped motion is described by the non-Markovian Langevin equation for fractional Brownian motion. For this case we show the existence of long time, stationary probability density functions (PDFs) the shape of which strongly deviates from the naively expected Boltzmann PDF in the confining potential U(x). We analyse in detail the temporal approach to stationarity as well as the shape of the non-Boltzmann stationary PDF. A typical characteristic is that subdiffusive, antipersistent (with negative autocorrelation) motion tends to effect an accumulation of probability close to the origin as compared to the corresponding Boltzmann distribution while the opposite trend occurs for superdiffusive (persistent) motion. For this latter case this leads to distinct bimodal shapes of the PDF. This property is compared to a similar phenomenon observed for Markovian Levy flights in superharmonic potentials. We also demonstrate that the motion encoded in the fractional Langevin equation driven by FGN always relaxes to the Boltzmann distribution, as in this case the fluctuation-dissipation theorem is fulfilled.
Remote synchronization implies that oscillators interacting not directly but via an additional unit (hub) adjust their frequencies and exhibit frequency locking while the hub remains asynchronous. In this paper, we analyze the mechanisms of remote synchrony in a small network of three coupled Stuart-Landau oscillators using recent results on higher-order phase reduction. We analytically demonstrate the role of two factors promoting remote synchrony. These factors are the nonisochronicity of oscillators and the coupling terms appearing in the secondorder phase approximation. We show a good correspondence between our theory and numerical results for small and moderate coupling strengths.