Macroscopic behavior of populations of quadratic integrate-and-fire neurons subject to non-Gaussian white noise.

We study macroscopic behavior of populations of quadratic integrate-and-fire neurons subject to non-Gaussian noises; we argue that these noises must be α-stable whenever they are delta-correlated (white). For the case of additive-in-voltage noise, we derive the governing equation of the dynamics of the characteristic function of the membrane voltage distribution and construct a linear-in-noise perturbation theory. Specifically for the recurrent network with global synaptic coupling, we theoretically calculate the observables: population-mean membrane voltage and firing rate. The theoretical results are underpinned by the results of numerical simulation for homogeneous and heterogeneous populations. The possibility of the generalization of the pseudocumulant approach to the case of a fractional α is examined for both irrational and fractional rational α. This examination seemingly suggests the pseudocumulant approach or its modifications to be employable only for the integer values of α=1 (Cauchy noise) and 2 (Gaussian noise) within the physically meaningful range (0;2]. Remarkably, the analysis for fractional α indirectly revealed that, for the Gaussian noise, the minimal asymptotically rigorous model reduction must involve three pseudocumulants and the two-pseudocumulant model reduction is an artificial approximation. This explains a surprising gain of accuracy for the three-pseudocumulant models as compared to the two-pseudocumulant ones reported in the literature.

Circular cumulant reductions for macroscopic dynamics of oscillator populations with non-Gaussian noise.

We employ the circular cumulant approach to construct a low dimensional description of the macroscopic dynamics of populations of phase oscillators (elements) subject to non-Gaussian white noise. Two-cumulant reduction equations for α-stable noises are derived. The implementation of the approach is demonstrated for the case of the Kuramoto ensemble with non-Gaussian noise. The results of direct numerical simulation of the ensemble of N=1500 oscillators and the "exact" numerical solution for the fractional Fokker-Planck equation in the Fourier space are found to be in good agreement with the analytical solutions for two feasible circular cumulant model reductions. We also illustrate that the two-cumulant model reduction is useful for studying the bifurcations of chimera states in hierarchical populations of coupled noisy phase oscillators.

Stochastic parametric excitation of convective heat transfer.

We study the parametric excitation of the free thermal convection in a horizontal layer and a rectangular cell by random vertical vibrations. The mathematical formulation we use allows one to explore the cases of heating from below and above and the low-gravity conditions. The excitation threshold of the second moments of the current velocity and the temperature perturbations are derived. The heat flux through the system quantified by the Nusselt number is reported to be related to the second moment of temperature perturbations; therefore, the threshold of the stochastic excitation of second moments gives the threshold for the excitation of the convective heat transfer. Comparison of the stochastic parametric excitation with the effect of high-frequency periodic modulation reveals dramatic dissimilarity between the two. This article is part of the theme issue 'New trends in pattern formation and nonlinear dynamics of extended systems'.

Coherent oscillations in balanced neural networks driven by endogenous fluctuations.

We present a detailed analysis of the dynamical regimes observed in a balanced network of identical quadratic integrate-and-fire neurons with sparse connectivity for homogeneous and heterogeneous in-degree distributions. Depending on the parameter values, either an asynchronous regime or periodic oscillations spontaneously emerge. Numerical simulations are compared with a mean-field model based on a self-consistent Fokker-Planck equation (FPE). The FPE reproduces quite well the asynchronous dynamics in the homogeneous case by either assuming a Poissonian or renewal distribution for the incoming spike trains. An exact self-consistent solution for the mean firing rate obtained in the limit of infinite in-degree allows identifying balanced regimes that can be either mean- or fluctuation-driven. A low-dimensional reduction of the FPE in terms of circular cumulants is also considered. Two cumulants suffice to reproduce the transition scenario observed in the network. The emergence of periodic collective oscillations is well captured both in the homogeneous and heterogeneous setups by the mean-field models upon tuning either the connectivity or the input DC current. In the heterogeneous situation, we analyze also the role of structural heterogeneity.

Mean-field models of populations of quadratic integrate-and-fire neurons with noise on the basis of the circular cumulant approach.

We develop a circular cumulant representation for the recurrent network of quadratic integrate-and-fire neurons subject to noise. The synaptic coupling is global or macroscopically equivalent to it. We assume a Lorentzian distribution of the parameter controlling whether the isolated individual neuron is periodically spiking or excitable. For the infinite chain of circular cumulant equations, a hierarchy of smallness is identified; on the basis of it, we truncate the chain and suggest several two-cumulant neural mass models. These models allow one to go beyond the Ott-Antonsen Ansatz and describe the effect of noise on hysteretic transitions between macroscopic regimes of a population with inhibitory coupling. The accuracy of two-cumulant models is analyzed in detail.

Reduction Methodology for Fluctuation Driven Population Dynamics.

Lorentzian distributions have been largely employed in statistical mechanics to obtain exact results for heterogeneous systems. Analytic continuation of these results is impossible even for slightly deformed Lorentzian distributions due to the divergence of all the moments (cumulants). We have solved this problem by introducing a "pseudocumulants" expansion. This allows us to develop a reduction methodology for heterogeneous spiking neural networks subject to extrinsic and endogenous fluctuations, thus obtaining a unified mean-field formulation encompassing quenched and dynamical sources of disorder.

Collective in-plane magnetization in a two-dimensional XY macrospin system within the framework of generalized Ott-Antonsen theory.

The problem of magnetic transitions between the low-temperature (macrospin ordered) phases in two-dimensional XY arrays is addressed. The system is modelled as a plane structure of identical single-domain particles arranged in a square lattice and coupled by the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction; all the particles possess a strong easy-plane magnetic anisotropy. The basic state of the system in the considered temperature range is an antiferromagnetic (AF) stripe structure, where the macrospins (particle magnetic moments) are still involved in thermofluctuational motion: the superparamagnetic blocking Tb temperature is lower than that (Taf) of the AF transition. The description is based on the stochastic equations governing the dynamics of individual magnetic moments, where the interparticle interaction is added in the mean-field approximation. With the technique of a generalized Ott-Antonsen theory, the dynamics equations for the order parameters (including the macroscopic magnetization and the AF order parameter) and the partition function of the system are rigorously obtained and analysed. We show that inside the temperature interval of existence of the AF phase, a static external field tilted to the plane of the array is able to induce first-order phase transitions from AF to ferromagnetic state; the phase diagrams displaying stable and metastable regions of the system are presented. This article is part of the theme issue 'Patterns in soft and biological matters'.

Collective mode reductions for populations of coupled noisy oscillators.

We analyze the accuracy of different low-dimensional reductions of the collective dynamics in large populations of coupled phase oscillators with intrinsic noise. Three approximations are considered: (i) the Ott-Antonsen ansatz, (ii) the Gaussian ansatz, and (iii) a two-cumulant truncation of the circular cumulant representation of the original system's dynamics. For the latter, we suggest a closure, which makes the truncation, for small noise, a rigorous first-order correction to the Ott-Antonsen ansatz, and simultaneously is a generalization of the Gaussian ansatz. The Kuramoto model with intrinsic noise and the population of identical noisy active rotators in excitable states with the Kuramoto-type coupling are considered as examples to test the validity of these approximations. For all considered cases, the Gaussian ansatz is found to be more accurate than the Ott-Antonsen one for high-synchrony states only. The two-cumulant approximation is always superior to both other approximations.

Dynamics of Noisy Oscillator Populations beyond the Ott-Antonsen Ansatz.

We develop an approach for the description of the dynamics of large populations of phase oscillators based on "circular cumulants" instead of the Kuramoto-Daido order parameters. In the thermodynamic limit, these variables yield a simple representation of the Ott-Antonsen invariant solution [E. Ott and T. M. Antonsen, Chaos 18, 037113 (2008)CHAOEH1054-150010.1063/1.2930766] and appear appropriate for constructing perturbation theory on top of the Ott-Antonsen ansatz. We employ this approach to study the impact of small intrinsic noise on the dynamics. As a result, a closed system of equations for the two leading cumulants, describing the dynamics of noisy ensembles, is derived. We exemplify the general theory by presenting the effect of noise on the Kuramoto system and on a chimera state in two symmetrically coupled populations.

Resonances and multistability in a Josephson junction connected to a resonator.

We study the dynamics of a Josephson junction connected to a dc current supply via a distributed parameter capacitor, which serves as a resonator. We reveal multistability in the current-voltage characteristic of the system; this multistability is related to resonances between the generated frequency and the resonator. The resonant pattern requires detailed consideration, in particular, because its basic features may resemble those of patterns reported in experiments with arrays of Josephson junctions demonstrating coherent stimulated emission. From the viewpoint of nonlinear dynamics, the resonances between a Josephson junction and a resonator are of interest because of the specificity of the former; its oscillation frequency is directly governed by control parameters of the system and can vary in a wide range. Our analytical results are in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations.

Existence of the passage to the limit of an inviscid fluid.

In the dynamics of a viscous fluid, the case of vanishing kinematic viscosity is actually equivalent to the Reynolds number tending to infinity. Hence, in the limit of vanishing viscosity the fluid flow is essentially turbulent. On the other hand, the Euler equation, which is conventionally adopted for the description of the flow of an inviscid fluid, does not possess proper turbulent behaviour. This raises the question of the existence of the passage to the limit of an inviscid fluid for real low-viscosity fluids. To address this question, one should employ the theory of turbulent boundary layer near an inflexible boundary (e.g., rigid wall). On the basis of this theory, one can see how the solutions to the Euler equation become relevant for the description of the flow of low-viscosity fluids, and obtain the small parameter quantifying accuracy of this description for real fluids.

Synchronization of coupled active rotators by common noise.

We study the effect of common noise on coupled active rotators. While such a noise always facilitates synchrony, coupling may be attractive (synchronizing) or repulsive (desynchronizing). We develop an analytical approach based on a transformation to approximate angle-action variables and averaging over fast rotations. For identical rotators, we describe a transition from full to partial synchrony at a critical value of repulsive coupling. For nonidentical rotators, the most nontrivial effect occurs at moderate repulsive coupling, where a juxtaposition of phase locking with frequency repulsion (anti-entrainment) is observed. We show that the frequency repulsion obeys a nontrivial power law.

Interplay of coupling and common noise at the transition to synchrony in oscillator populations.

There are two ways to synchronize oscillators: by coupling and by common forcing, which can be pure noise. By virtue of the Ott-Antonsen ansatz for sine-coupled phase oscillators, we obtain analytically tractable equations for the case where both coupling and common noise are present. While noise always tends to synchronize the phase oscillators, the repulsive coupling can act against synchrony, and we focus on this nontrivial situation. For identical oscillators, the fully synchronous state remains stable for small repulsive coupling; moreover it is an absorbing state which always wins over the asynchronous regime. For oscillators with a distribution of natural frequencies, we report on a counter-intuitive effect of dispersion (instead of usual convergence) of the oscillators frequencies at synchrony; the latter effect disappears if noise vanishes.

Collision of viscoelastic bodies: Rigorous derivation of dissipative force.

We report a new theory of dissipative forces acting between colliding viscoelastic bodies. The impact velocity is assumed not to be large to neglect plastic deformations in the material and propagation of sound waves. We consider the general case of bodies of an arbitrary convex shape and of different materials. We develop a mathematically rigorous perturbation scheme to solve the continuum mechanics equations that deal with both displacement and displacement rate fields and accounts for the dissipation in the bulk of the material. The perturbative solution of these equations allows to go beyond the previously used quasi-static approximation and obtain the dissipative force. The derived force does not suffer from the inconsistencies of the quasi-static approximation, like the violation of the third Newton's law for the case of different materials, and depends on particle deformation and deformation rate.

Formation of bubbly horizon in liquid-saturated porous medium by surface temperature oscillation.

We study nonisothermal diffusion transport of a weakly soluble substance in a liquid-saturated porous medium in contact with a reservoir of this substance. The surface temperature of the porous medium half-space oscillates in time, which results in a decaying solubility wave propagating deep into the porous medium. In this system, zones of saturated solution and nondissolved phase coexist with ones of undersaturated solution. The effect is first considered for the case of annual oscillation of the surface temperature of water-saturated ground in contact with the atmosphere. We reveal the phenomenon of formation of a near-surface bubbly horizon due to temperature oscillation. An analytical theory of the phenomenon is developed. Further, the treatment is extended to the case of higher frequency oscillations and the case of weakly soluble solids and liquids.

Boiling of the interface between two immiscible liquids below the bulk boiling temperatures of both components.

We consider the problem of boiling of the direct contact of two immiscible liquids. An intense vapour formation at such a direct contact is possible below the bulk boiling points of both components, meaning an effective decrease of the boiling temperature of the system. Although the phenomenon is known in science and widely employed in technology, the direct contact boiling process was thoroughly studied (both experimentally and theoretically) only for the case where one of liquids is becoming heated above its bulk boiling point. On the contrary, we address the case where both liquids remain below their bulk boiling points. In this paper we construct the theoretical description of the boiling process and discuss the actualisation of the case we consider for real systems.

Diffusive counter dispersion of mass in bubbly media.

We consider a liquid bearing gas bubbles in a porous medium. When gas bubbles are immovably trapped in a porous matrix by surface-tension forces, the dominant mechanism of transfer of gas mass becomes the diffusion of gas molecules through the liquid. Essentially, the gas solution is in local thermodynamic equilibrium with vapor phase all over the system, i.e., the solute concentration equals the solubility. When temperature and/or pressure gradients are applied, diffusion fluxes appear and these fluxes are faithfully determined by the temperature and pressure fields, not by the local solute concentration, which is enslaved by the former. We derive the equations governing such systems, accounting for thermodiffusion and gravitational segregation effects, which are shown not to be neglected for geological systems-marine sediments, terrestrial aquifers, etc. The results are applied for the treatment of non-high-pressure systems and real geological systems bearing methane or carbon dioxide, where we find a potential possibility of the formation of gaseous horizons deep below a porous medium surface. The reported effects are of particular importance for natural methane hydrate deposits and the problem of burial of industrial production of carbon dioxide in deep aquifers.

Effective long-time phase dynamics of limit-cycle oscillators driven by weak colored noise.

An effective white-noise Langevin equation is derived that describes long-time phase dynamics of a limit-cycle oscillator driven by weak stationary colored noise. Effective drift and diffusion coefficients are given in terms of the phase sensitivity of the oscillator and the correlation function of the noise, and are explicitly calculated for oscillators with sinusoidal phase sensitivity functions driven by two typical colored Gaussian processes. The results are verified by numerical simulations using several types of stochastic or chaotic noise. The drift and diffusion coefficients of oscillators driven by chaotic noise exhibit anomalous dependence on the oscillator frequency, reflecting the peculiar power spectrum of the chaotic noise.

Comment on "Time-averaged properties of unstable periodic orbits and chaotic orbits in ordinary differential equation systems".

A recent paper claims that mean characteristics of chaotic orbits differ from the corresponding values averaged over the set of unstable periodic orbits, embedded in the chaotic attractor. We demonstrate that the alleged discrepancy is an artifact of the improper averaging. Since the natural measure is nonuniformly distributed over the attractor, different periodic orbits make different contributions into the time averages. As soon as the corresponding weights are accounted for, the discrepancy disappears.