New papers on Statistical & soft-matter physics
129 new papers on statistical & soft-matter physics in the last 7 days, within Physics. These are the 50 Pipette rates most worth reading, with the main result in the authors' own words.
The best of the week
Exact Realization of Deep ReLU Computation in a Microscopic Statistical-Mechanical System
Here we establish an exact statistical-mechanical realization of arbitrary ReLU networks.
PreprintClaims a big stepGliders on Aperiodic Monotilings: Cellular Automata on the Hat and Spectre
Evolutionary search then discovers gliders on both monotilings; tracked by a sliding window that regenerates the patch along the flight, they travel one million rings at constant speed and heading.
PreprintClaims a big stepCode availableDense Packing of Tetrahedra in Cylinders
Combining numerical simulations with exact analytical theory, we classify the densest configurations into two continuous, mathematically tractable families: chiral Tetra Helices and achiral Dimer Chains.
PreprintClaims a big stepViscous Dissipation Governs Bubble Morphology and Failure in Soft Matter
Together, our results establish viscous dissipation as a key stabilizing mechanism that governs bubble morphology and failure in soft materials.
PreprintReal-world useA principal-stress rule for cell division in epithelia
We show that as epithelia densify, this geometric rule is superseded by a mechanical one: cells divide along the principal axis of anisotropic stress, independently of the isotropic stress state.
Peer-reviewed journalTumor-induced lipid loss physically accelerates breast cancer invasion into mammary adipose tissue
Together, these results suggest that lipid loss physically remodels WAT to facilitate breast cancer invasion, and that obesity may exacerbate this effect.
PreprintExtracting hydrogel properties by watching hydrogel particles moving through solid ice
Here, we show how one can use this behavior to measure -- with extremely high resolution -- a range of different hydrogel transport properties, and how these change as a hydrogel deswells.
PreprintLowest-known Energy Configuration of Coulomb Charges in a Disk: Breaking the Barrier
We report the first calculation of the lowest-known energy configuration for classical point charges confined to a disk and interacting via the Coulomb potential - a system size never before achieved for the Thomson problem in a disk, more than doubling the previous record of reported by Amore and Zarate.
PreprintClaims a big stepAn interdimensional funnel enhances topologically protected oscillations in high-dimensional stochastic systems
Although usually viewed as an obstacle to coherent dynamics, here we show that high dimensionality can enhance topologically protected oscillations.
PreprintHigher-Order Competition as a Minimal Mechanism for Spatial Pattern Diversity in Population Dynamics
We show that negative feedback alone generates the diversity of self-organized shapes usually attributed to scale-dependent activation-inhibition.
PreprintThermodynamic efficiency of communication channels
We find that the entropy production per channel use is bounded from below by the input-output mutual information, and their ratio -mutual information divided by entropy production- defines the thermodynamic efficiency.
PreprintUnbounded Work Extraction and Zero Work Fluctuations in a Super-Carnot Otto Information Engine
We demonstrate that the work output of the OIE depends solely on the energy level gap, enabling arbitrary work extraction while eliminating work fluctuations, thereby ensuring cycle-to-cycle identical work output.
PreprintBold claims, read criticallyClaims a big stepEmergent memory in cell-like active systems
We show that when the self-propulsion depends on internal variables with their own complex dynamics–modulated by local environmental cues– environmental memory spontaneously emerges and gives rise to new classes of behaviours.
Peer-reviewed journalEmergent charge crystallization and frustration in a particle anti-spin ice
Here, we report the realization of an “anti-spin ice” in which not only the ice rule does not hold, but its opposite is true as the system seeks to maximize, rather than minimize, spin ice charges.
Peer-reviewed journalSpeed up of passive tracers in mixtures with active chemical reactions
By studying a thermodynamically consistent model of chemical reactions in mixtures, we show that reactions provide an additional relaxation pathway that suppresses interaction-induced memory, reducing the drag on tracers and restoring their diffusivity toward the value expected in the absence of solutes.
PreprintPhase diagram morphology shapes droplet propulsion in chemical gradients
Our theory reveals that droplets move toward regions of lower stability, as encoded in the morphology of the phase diagram, particularly near critical points.
PreprintExact Nonperturbative Equilibrium Mode Statistics in Nonlinear Wave and Lattice Systems
We derive exact finite-size nonperturbative representations of equilibrium modal occupations and related statistics for three representative nonlinear systems: the Majda-McLaughlin-Tabak dispersive-wave model, the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou beta anharmonic chain, and the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger lattice field.
PreprintProactive Incentive Regulation in Multi-Agent Systems with Environmental Feedback
Proactive intervention under favorable environmental conditions is more effective in sustaining cooperation than delayed enforcement after environmental degradation.
PreprintStochastic consensus dynamics for decentralized decision systems
These results reveal a collective amplification mechanism by which weak initial asymmetries become increasingly decisive in large decentralized networks, and they provide a simple framework for understanding the efficiency, predictability, and reliability of consensus formation in distributed decision systems.
PreprintActive colloidal rafts perform swimming strokes that propel their host droplets
This non-reciprocal deformation acts as a swimming stroke and propels the droplet according to the principles of low-Reynolds-number swimming.
PreprintExtreme-Scale Ising Machines with Cluster Mean-Field Theory
By coupling locally evolving clusters through programmable effective biases, CMFT provides a route to extreme-scale Ising machines on both analog and digital hardware.
PreprintNucleosome simulations suggest mechanisms of electrostatically-driven mesoscale chromatin evolution
Taken together, our results suggest a paradigm in which histones may have evolved to facilitate particular types of mesoscale chromatin behavior.
PreprintLocal Detailed Balance in the Lorenz Model: Replaces the Butterfly with Frenetic Bursting
We derive a modification that satisfies the local-detailed-balance condition for macroscopic relaxation toward nonequilibrium steady states, thereby identifying the thermodynamic force, entropy-production rate and frenesy of the resulting flow.
PreprintNonequilibrium Phases of Repulsive Self-Attention: Chaos, Attention Condensation, and Emergent Locality
These results establish temporal activity, attention condensation, and geometric clustering as distinct collective phenomena, and show that sparse attention can sustain persistent dynamics rather than freeze it.
PreprintUni-Macro-FRPN: Full-Resolution and Cross-Scale Learning for Polymers
We present Uni-Macro-FRPN (FRPN), a Full-Resolution Polymer Network that retains both detailed atom-level and monomer-level features and explicit polymer structure information within a unified framework.
PreprintAnalytical Solution of the Nonlinear Boltzmann Equation For Multicomponent Systems
We present exact analytical solutions to the nonlinear relativistic Boltzmann equation for homogeneous, isotropic massless multi-component systems with non-isotropic scattering cross sections.
PreprintClaims a big stepQuantum Mpemba effect from Stark localization
Here we show how to design a quantum energy landscape with local dissipation leading to an Mpemba effect with parametrically separated timescales.
PreprintState-Resolved Integral of First-Passage Times for Multi-Site Polymer Adsorption
This approach decouples fast intra-layer conformational adjustments from the slow kinetics of external chain exchange, enabling quantitative prediction of the time-dependent distribution of attachment states (, , ) within a multi-site adsorbed layer.
PreprintFull macroscopic thermalization and the formation of Schr\"odinger's cats by unitary time evolution in the weakly perturbed Ising model - Applications of the Roos-Sugimoto-Teufel-Tumulka-Vogel theory
We prove that a single typical perturbation makes every initial state in a specified energy shell thermalize: a measurement of a large class of macroscopic observables in the time-evolved state yields their thermal equilibrium values, within a prescribed precision and with overwhelming probability, at sufficiently large, typical times .
PreprintRank-dependent optimal resetting in multiparticle search
Our results show that optimal resetting in multiparticle search is governed by the required completion rank and must be evaluated relative to protocol- and geometry-matched baselines.
PreprintFirst Passage in the Presence of Jump Rate Fluctuations: A Transition from Infinite to Finite Mean
We find a phase transition in the mean first-passage time: sufficiently broad rate fluctuations render it finite, whereas weaker fluctuations leave it infinite.
PreprintThe Filtering Demon: Beyond Standard Thermodynamic Bounds and Harnessing Measurement Error and Quantum Friction
To overcome this, we propose an Otto information engine (OIE) that employs a Maxwell's demon to filter out detrimental stochastic trajectories, and demonstrate that the OIE can provide enhanced work output and stability compared to the corresponding standard Otto engine.
PreprintBold claims, read criticallyMicroscopic origin of the Baumg\"artel-Schausberger-Winter Relaxation Spectrum in Polymer Melts and Particle Rafts
The resulting BSW spectrum exhibits a continuous transfer from the fast cooperative to the slow constraint-renewal cascade before a finite-chain terminal edge.
PreprintBold claims, read criticallyOptimal Evasion from a Resetting Searcher
Keeping the target's typical exploration range fixed, we find that the mean capture time is maximized at an intermediate correlation time: rapid motion promotes encounters, whereas slow motion leaves the target effectively stationary.
PreprintPayoffs and perception mediate environmental feedback in an N-player trust game with Q-learning
Environmental feedback promoted trust near perception-tier boundaries and reinforced its decline at the high-return operating point.
PreprintUniversal Response Functions in Driven Dissipative Tunneling Dynamics
Here, we demonstrate that barrier-crossing processes in periodically driven dissipative systems are governed not merely by modified exponential scaling, but by an explicit two-parameter universal response function.
Preprint with a published versionFrom Effective Temperature to Non-Boltzmann State Selection in Driven-Dissipative Quantum Criticality
Driven criticality thus remains organized by an effective temperature while revealing non-thermal state selection.
PreprintSimulation and Network Assembly Pipelines for Dynamically Bonded Soft Materials
Here we present pySNAP (Simulation and Network Assembly Pipelines), a modular open source Python platform that integrates tunable dynamic bonding with a workflow, template, and analysis setup, so that users can study a wide range of systems with only small changes to input files.
PreprintReinterpreting ultrafast experiments on supercooled water: Glass transition versus liquid-liquid criticality
Here, we show that this heat capacity increase can be explained without invoking a liquid-liquid transition.
PreprintMultiscale Entropies as Order Parameters for Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions
These entropies serve as scale-dependent order parameters for characterizing phase transitions and pattern formation.
PreprintStatistical signatures of microorganism motility under environmental stress
Our results highlight systematic differences in the statistical signatures of motion, suggesting that trajectory metrics may serve as indicators of physiological stress.
Preprint with a published versionA Spatio-Temporal Generalisation of Green Kubo
This work extends the GK approach to include spatial correlations.
PreprintBold claims, read criticallyMerons Mediate Re-Ordering of Curved Rods Under Shear Flow
These findings reveal a new mechanism to create and control merons and highlight the potential application of bent-core liquid crystals in designing functional material with specific optical and computational properties.
PreprintUphill and downhill first passage of an active Brownian particle: Asymmetry and exact path reweighting
Nevertheless, the two directional path ensembles remain exactly related by spatial reflection, which pairs downhill and uphill first passage paths of the same duration while preserving their orientational history.
PreprintEffective Mass Approach to Dynamics of Non-Markovian Systems with Short Memory
In this dissertation, I introduce a novel methodology, namely the effective mass approach, which bridges the Markovian and non-Markovian regimes and provides an accessible framework for analyzing systems with short memory.
PreprintMesoscale heterogeneity in protein hydrogels induced by dynamic unfolding and post-gelation rearrangements
This work demonstrates the effectiveness of coarse-grained modelling in capturing the heterogeneous mesoscale network of crosslinked unfoldable proteins.
PreprintExact ballistic energy transport and emergent XXZ dynamics in an integrable three-state chain
By constructing a regular -matrix to establish a globally conserved energy current, we analytically evaluate its full variance to obtain the exact, strictly positive leading high-temperature coefficient of the thermal Drude weight and the ballistic growth rate of the energy-correlation second moment.
PreprintExistence and Uniqueness of Nearest Stealthy Hyperuniform Configurations from Random Initial Conditions
We prove that, for almost every uniformly random configuration of particles in a two-dimensional periodic square domain, there exists a unique nearest stealthy hyperuniform configuration, up to floppy-mode displacements, when a finite set of low- Fourier modes is constrained to vanish exactly.
PreprintAcoustic dip in the effective temperature of hot Brownian motion
Solving the compressible fluctuating-hydrodynamic problem for a heated sphere, we find that the effective noise temperature develops a pronounced acoustic dip when the sound wavelength becomes comparable to the particle radius.
PreprintExperimental Characterization of the Passive Mechanical Behavior of Rat Pelvic Floor Muscles: Effects of Test Conditions and Pregnancy
Conclusion: This study provides one of the first direct experimental comparisons of passive pelvic floor muscle mechanics between pregnant and non-pregnant tissue, while systematically evaluating how multiple testing-protocol variables influence the measured response.
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