Pattern Formation and Solitons · Cross-listed from cond-mat.quant-gas
Radial dam breaks in a two-dimensional droplet bearing environment
F. Bristy, S. Chandramouli, G. A. Bougas et al. (+3 more)
The controlled dynamical generation of radial dam break flows (DBFs) is demonstrated in two-dimensional droplet environments. These ultracold mixtures feature competing mean-field and
quantum fluctuation effects and are initialized on a disk-shaped uniform density. Depending on the value of the latter, reflecting also the dominance of attractive or repulsive interactions, three dynamical response regimes are identified. At small densities a moving wavetrain of bright ring
solitons is observed (dubbed ring DBF), at intermediate densities a ring kink-dispersive shock wave, while at large densities the flows encompass composite ring kink-rarefaction waves moving towards the center. The emergence of these patterns, whose formation would be prohibited in two-dimensional Kerr media due to wave-collapse, is rooted in the competition between attraction and repulsion inherent to droplet environments, modeled by the extended Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The characterization of the ensuing nonlinear waveforms is further corroborated by reduced models based on the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The different wave patterns emanating from dam break flows can be experimentally realized using current state-of-the-art ultracold atom experiments.
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All authors F. Bristy, S. Chandramouli, G. A. Bougas, G. C. Katsimiga, P. G. Kevrekidis, S. I. Mistakidis
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems · Cross-listed from physics.flu-dyn
Wake interactions drive synchronized vortex merging in a hovering quadcopter
Elias S. Pratschke, Claus C. Wolf, Daniel Schanz et al. (+2 more)
The most energetic coherent structure of a hovering full-scale quadcopter is associated with a self-organizing process in which the individual rotor
vortices synchronize their frequencies while undergoing merging events, yielding a globally correlated structure. We identify and characterize this phenomenon by applying spectral modal and conditional analyses to assimilated three-dimensional velocity data acquired via Shake-The-Box Lagrangian particle tracking. The
dataset captures a high-Re, turbulent flow further complicated by time-varying rotor speeds stemming from active flight control, low-frequency vehicle drift, finite spatio-temporal resolution, and measurement uncertainty. Most coherent structures recover established single-rotor features such as tip
vortices and their subharmonic pairing. The globally synchronized
vortex merging manifests as a spectral peak at an incommensurate frequency below the rotor band, which cannot be explained by single-rotor aerodynamics, subharmonic instabilities, or band-to-band triadic interactions. Instead, conditional averaging provides evidence of the aforementioned intermittent, distinctly non-subharmonic
vortex-merging process involving all four rotor wakes. Establishing whether or not this phenomenon is observed across different flight conditions and configurations remains speculative; however, the consistent characterization of the globally synchronized
vortex merging using complementary frequency- and time-domain analyses despite experimental complexities, in particular rotor speed variations, demonstrates its robustness.
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All authors Elias S. Pratschke, Claus C. Wolf, Daniel Schanz, Andreas Schröder, Oliver T. Schmidt
Pattern Formation and Solitons
The Origin of Imperfection Sensitivity in the Buckling of Cylindrical Shells
Tian Yang and Tobias M. Schneider
Buckling of thin cylindrical shells under axial compression, a classical example of a subcritical instability, is highly sensitive to small imperfections, with minute
geometric variations causing large changes in buckling threshold. To uncover the origin of this sensitivity, we use numerical continuation and bifurcation analysis while systematically varying the depth and size of a single localized Gaussian defect. We show that the instabilities of the imperfect shell originate from localized
equilibria already present in the perfect shell. By breaking translation
symmetry, the defect pins these
equilibria and changes how they connect to the imperfect base state. Small changes in defect geometry can thereby switch the bifurcation that triggers buckling, producing non-monotonic and discontinuous changes in buckling threshold and abrupt changes in buckling mode. Imperfection sensitivity is therefore not simply sensitivity to imperfection magnitude, but sensitivity of the underlying bifurcation structure to imperfection geometry.
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Chaotic Dynamics · Cross-listed from physics.flu-dyn
How universal are warm turbulent cascades?
Ben Y. Israeli and Gregory Falkovich
It is often assumed that general stationary solutions to the wave kinetic equation are described solely by conserved fluxes and temperature. The families of solutions parameterized by these quantities are referred to as warm cascades, and are derivable from differential models of wave kinetics. These models rely on the assumption of local interactions, and we demonstrate by a time scale argument that the nonlocal effect of thermal damping on the cascade may result in dependence on an additional parameter, the UV cutoff, calling into question the validity of warm cascade solutions. This is shown for systems with both three-wave and four-wave interactions. We then consider the depletion of the cascade by this damping, and present a numerical demonstration of this nonlocal and nonuniversal behavior.
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Chaotic Dynamics
Ladder of information limits on prediction for reduced-order models
Adrian Lozano-Duran
What can and cannot be predicted by a model when only limited information is available? We answer this question by constructing a ladder of information limits that organizes prediction tasks according to their information requirements: from memoryless and
memory-augmented trajectory forecasts to event prediction, stationary statistics, and generative laws. The analysis, which is independent of the model structure or architecture, identifies the minimum attainable error along with the information limitations that give rise to it. The approach distinguishes information hidden in unresolved variables from information recovered through time-delayed observations and connects these contributions to Mori–Zwanzig
memory. The ladder also reveals why Lyapunov growth alone cannot characterize reduced-order prediction error, why stationary statistics may remain predictable even when individual trajectories become unpredictable, and why stochasticity can represent (but cannot recover) missing information. Numerical studies of the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation and the Lorenz system illustrate these results across the ladder. This unified perspective provides a principled
language for understanding the fundamental limitations of ROMs for a given prediction task and for clarifying whether improved predictions require richer observations, greater precision in the input, or additional
memory.
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Chaotic Dynamics · Cross-listed from cs.LG
Learning-Induced Dynamical Transition in Recurrent Neural Networks
Varun Vaidya
Learning in recurrent neural networks can fundamentally reshape their underlying dynamics, transforming initially chaotic activity into stable task-dependent behavior. We develop a non-
equilibrium dynamical mean-field theory(DMFT) to describe this transition during learning. We show that a slow feedback-driven learning process generates an evolving effective feedback strength that drives the network through a transition from chaotic to stable dynamics defined by a bifurcation of the DMFT solution. By deriving the two-time correlation function throughout learning, we identify a critical feedback strength and a corresponding learning rate dependent critical time separating these regimes. The transition arises from the progressive deformation of an effective dynamical landscape by the growing learned feedback structure. Starting from the untrained state, the theory predicts the time
evolution of the network output during training and shows quantitative agreement with numerical simulations.
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Exactly Solvable and Integrable Systems · Cross-listed from hep-th
Auxiliary Field Deformations of the Lambda Model
Christian Ferko, Cian Luke Martin and Pranat Sharma
Many examples of integrable sigma models admit families of integrable deformations that involve coupling the undeformed “seed” theory to auxiliary fields with algebraic equations of motion. In this work, we apply this paradigm to the case where the seed theory is the lambda model, which interpolates between the Wess-Zumino-Witten model and the non-Abelian T-dual of the principal chiral model. We present an auxiliary field deformation of the lambda model and exhibit a Lax connection whose flatness is equivalent to the remaining equations of motion after imposing the algebraic field equations. We also carry out a
Hamiltonian analysis of the deformed theory, verifying that it obeys the assumptions of
theorems in arXiv:2605.18213 which guarantee both (i) that the model enjoys the Maillet structure that ensures involution of its conserved charges, and (ii) that the theory possesses a classical Yangian. Thus, as in other cases, the auxiliary field deformation of the lambda model changes its classical dynamics while leaving the integrable structure essentially unchanged.
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Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems · Cross-listed from physics.soc-ph
Modelling opinion dynamics during crises as complex contagion with feedback
Junxiang Huang and Mikhail Prokopenko
Crises and population responses can form coupled dynamical systems, with crisis conditions shaping protective behaviours and collective responses altering the crisis trajectory. Existing models rarely capture both evolving crisis conditions and the reinforcement-dependent spread of competing behaviours. We propose a complex contagion with feedback (CCF) model that couples competing complex contagion with crisis dynamics through bidirectional feedback.
Agents stochastically switch between competing states according to social reinforcement and adoption complexity, which is influenced by crisis conditions and information campaigns, while population-level behavioural change feeds back into the crisis. We formulate and analyse the model for a well-mixed population, characterising its
equilibria and associated stability conditions. As a case study for model validation, we integrate CCF model with a census-calibrated
agent-based model of COVID-19 transmission in Australia to represent social distancing adoption and discontinuation. We compare the CCF model with an existing opinion dynamics model and find that, despite using fewer parameters, it achieves comparable performance in reproducing recurrent infection waves. The resulting framework is parsimonious, analytically tractable, and can be adapted to different types of crises.
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Pattern Formation and Solitons · Cross-listed from math.NA
Constrained weak identification of Allen–Cahn free energies with surface-tension calibration
Soobeen Jung and Hyunju Kim
Phase-field trajectories governed by the Allen–Cahn equation determine the effective force $G=F'/\eps^2$, but not the free-energy potential $F$ and interfacial scale $\eps$ separately. We introduce surface-tension-calibrated Allen–Cahn identification (STAC), a two-step method that resolves this ambiguity using an independently supplied surface tension. First, space–time weak moments produce a linear inverse problem without differentiating the measured field. A Bernstein representation with positive coefficients enforces two stable pure phases and a single central energy maximum. Second, the surface tension fixes the remaining scale algebraically. We prove scale equivalence of the forward model, uniqueness of the calibrated pair within this class, and finite perturbation bounds that remain valid when the potential vanishes at the pure phases. Experiments with resolved synthetic phase fields separate the effects of the structural constraint, ridge regularization, and constitutive approximation error. Across 80 shared noisy records, unconstrained degree-five regression produces six potentials with an incorrect well structure. Positivity combined with ridge regularization eliminates these violations and reduces the mean force error from 8.70% to 5.66%. Lower-degree models are nevertheless more accurate in some tests, and an admissible law outside the positive Bernstein family shows how the constraint can introduce approximation bias. STAC thus recovers a structurally admissible, physically scaled potential while making explicit which information comes from the observed dynamics and which comes from the independent surface-tension datum.
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Exactly Solvable and Integrable Systems
Maxwell's relations as Hamilton's equations: a symplectic and variational framework
Sikarin Yoo-Kong
We develop a
geometric framework in which classical thermodynamics is reformulated as a
Hamiltonian dynamical system. An explicit canonical mapping $(q,p,t,H)\leftrightarrow(V,-P,S,-T)$ identifies Maxwell's relations as the characteristic equations of the thermodynamic Poincaré–Cartan one-form, in direct parallel with Hamilton's equations of motion. Treating thermodynamic potentials as action functionals, a variational principle recovers both the Maxwell relations and the thermodynamic constraints (adiabaticity, isothermality) as conserved first integrals. For adiabatic processes in an ideal gas, this yields explicit second-order ordinary differential equations for $V(T)$ and $P(T)$, each governed by a temperature-dependent Lagrangian. Assembling the component Lagrangians into a multi-parameter Lagrangian 1-form $\mathcal{L}$, we prove that the closure condition $d\mathcal{L}=0$ holds on the solution
manifold, establishing that path-independence of thermodynamic state functions is a
geometric consequence of multi-time integrability rather than an independent postulate.
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Pattern Formation and Solitons
Two-Parameter Family of Nonlinear Dirac Equations With Scalar-Scalar plus Vector-Vector Interactions
Avinash Khare, Fred Cooper, John F. Dawson et al. (+1 more)
We obtain exact solutions of the nonlinear Dirac equation in $1+1$ dimensions of the form $\psi(x,t) = e^{-i\omega t} \psi(x)$ for scalar-scalar (SS) plus vector-vector (VV) interaction with interaction Lagrangian given by $$L_{I} = \frac{g^2}{\kappa+1}[(\bar{\psi} \psi)^{\kappa+1} +\frac{1}{p} (\bar{\psi} \gamma_\mu \psi \bar{\psi} \gamma^{\mu} \psi)^{\kappa+1}]$$ where $p > 0$ but arbitrary otherwise. We look for solutions with $0 < \omega < m$ where $\omega, m$ are frequency and mass, respectively. We find solutions for all values of $\omega$ in this range. We compute the charge $Q$ and the energy $E$ for each of the solitary wave solutions and explore the region in the ($p, \kappa$) parameter space in which solitary wave bound states exist (i.e., for which $E/Q < m$). We show that for all the cases while both $E$ and $Q$ depend on the coupling constant $g$, their ratio $E/Q$ is independent of $g$. We further find that in case $p\kappa \le 1$, the charge density for all the solitary waves have only single hump while for $p \kappa > 1$ there is a transition from double to single hump and we determine it as a function of $\omega/m$. We notice that for all $p$ there is a transition at $\kappa=2$ in the behavior of $E/Q$ as a function of $\omega$ which we speculate is related to the onset of instability of the solutions at $\kappa=2$. We obtain the nonrelativistic reduction of the two-parameter family to a non-relativistic modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) and discuss the stability of the single hump olitary waves in the domain of validity of the modified NLSE.
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All authors Avinash Khare, Fred Cooper, John F. Dawson, Avadh Saxena
Chaotic Dynamics
A New Route to Chaos through the Geometric Composition of Non-Normal Amplification
D. Sornette, V. R. Saiprasad and V. Troude
Chaos emerges when stretching is repeatedly recycled by reinjection. We uncover a new route to chaos in which the decisive variable is the temporal order of non-normal tangent maps: periodic and chaotic states can share essentially the same one-step stretching statistics while their ordered products acquire opposite Lyapunov growth. We introduce the ordered-product growth rate $h_L$ over $L$ successive tangent maps, which reveals how states indistinguishable at one step separate under
geometric composition and identifies the finite composition scale at which chaos emerges. We use this mechanism to establish a new form of global chaos control: minute phase actions reorient the successive non-normal amplification directions so that their
geometric composition becomes contracting, suppressing chaos at fixed dissipation without reducing local amplification or targeting a preselected orbit.
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