Extended families of critical and stationary droplets for nonequilibrium phase transitions in spatially discrete bistable systems

Generic two-phase coexistence in a type-2 Schloegl model for autocatalysis on a square lattice: Analysis via heterogeneous master equations

Schloegl's second model (also known as the quadratic contact process) on a square lattice involves spontaneous annihilation of particles at lattice sites at rate p, and their autocatalytic creation at unoccupied sites with n≥2 occupied neighbors at rate k_{n}. Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation reveals that these models exhibit a nonequilibrium discontinuous phase transition with generic two-phase coexistence: the p value for equistability of coexisting populated and vacuum states, p_{eq}(S), depends on the orientation or slope, S, of a planar interface separating those phases. The vacuum state displaces the populated state for p>p_{eq}(S), and the opposite applies for p<p_{eq}(S) for 0<S<∞. The special "combinatorial" rate choice k_{n}=n(n-1)/12 facilitates an appealing simplification of the exact master equations for the evolution of spatially heterogeneous states in the model, which aids analytic investigation of these equations via hierarchical truncation approximations. Truncation produces coupled sets of lattice differential equations which can describe orientation-dependent interface propagation and equistability. The pair approximation predicts that p_{eq}(max)=p_{eq}(S=1)=0.09645 and p_{eq}(min)=p_{eq}(S→∞)=0.08827, values deviating less than 15% from KMC predictions. In the pair approximation, a perfect vertical interface is stationary for all p<p_{eq}(S=∞)=0.08907, a value exceeding p_{eq}(S→∞). One can regard an interface for large S→∞ as a vertical interface decorated with isolated kinks. For p<p_{eq}(S=∞), the kink can move in either direction along this otherwise stationary interface depending upon p, but for p=p_{eq}(min) the kink is also stationary.

Phase transitions in Schloegl's second model for autocatalysis on a Bethe lattice

Schloegl's second model (also known as the quadratic contact process) on a lattice involves spontaneous particle annihilation at rate p and autocatalytic particle creation at empty sites with n≥2 occupied neighbors. The particle creation rate for exactly n occupied neighbors is selected here as n(n-1)/[z(z-1)] for lattice coordination number z. We analyze this model on a Bethe lattice. Precise behavior for stochastic models on regular periodic infinite lattices is usually surmised from kinetic Monte Carlo simulation on a finite lattice with periodic boundary conditions. However, the persistence of boundary effects for a Bethe lattice complicates this process, e.g., by inducing spatially heterogenous states. This motivates the exploration of various boundary conditions and unconventional simulation ensembles on the Bethe lattice to predict behavior for infinite size. We focus on z=3, and predict a discontinuous transition to the vacuum state on the infinite lattice when p exceeds a threshold value of around 0.053.

Turing instability in the reaction-diffusion network

It is an established fact that a positive wave number plays an essential role in Turing instability. However, the impact of a negative wave number on Turing instability remains unclear. Here, we investigate the effect of the weights and nodes on Turing instability in the FitzHugh-Nagumo model, and theoretical results reveal genesis of Turing instability due to a negative wave number through the stability analysis and mean-field method. We obtain the Turing instability region in the continuous media system and provide the relationship between degree and eigenvalue of the network matrix by the Gershgorin circle theorem. Furthermore, the Turing instability condition about nodes and the weights is provided in the network-organized system. Additionally, we found chaotic behavior because of interactions between I Turing instability and II Turing instability. Besides, we apply this above analysis to explaining the mechanism of the signal conduction of the inhibitory neuron. We find a moderate coupling strength and corresponding number of links are necessary to the signal conduction.