RESUMO
The interplay of diffusion with phenomena like stochastic adsorption-desorption, absorption, and reaction-diffusion is essential for life and manifests in diverse natural contexts. Many factors must be considered, including geometry, dimensionality, and the interplay of diffusion across bulk and surfaces. To address this complexity, we investigate the diffusion process in heterogeneous media, focusing on non-Markovian diffusion. This process is limited by a surface interaction with the bulk, described by a specific boundary condition relevant to systems such as living cells and biomaterials. The surface can adsorb and desorb particles, and the adsorbed particles may undergo lateral diffusion before returning to the bulk. Different behaviors of the system are identified through analytical and numerical approaches.
RESUMO
In this study, we investigate a nonlinear diffusion process in which particles stochastically reset to their initial positions at a constant rate. The nonlinear diffusion process is modeled using the porous media equation and its extensions, which are nonlinear diffusion equations. We use analytical and numerical calculations to obtain and interpret the probability distribution of the position of the particles and the mean square displacement. These results are further compared and shown to agree with the results of numerical simulations. Our findings show that a system of this kind exhibits non-Gaussian distributions, transient anomalous diffusion (subdiffusion and superdiffusion), and stationary states that simultaneously depend on the nonlinearity and resetting rate.
RESUMO
Recent theoretical research has developed a general framework to understand director deformations and modulated phases in nematic liquid crystals. In this framework, there are four fundamental director deformation modes: twist, bend, splay, and a fourth mode Δ related to saddle-splay. The first three of these modes are known to induce modulated phases. Here, we consider modulated phases induced by the fourth mode. We develop a theory for tetrahedral order in liquid crystals, and show that it couples to the Δ mode of director deformation. Because of geometric frustration, the Δ mode cannot fill space by itself, but rather must be accompanied by twist or splay. Hence, it may induce a spontaneous cholesteric phase, with either handedness, or a splay nematic phase.
RESUMO
Recent experiments have reported a novel splay nematic phase, which has alternating domains of positive and negative splay. To model this phase, previous studies have considered a one-dimensional (1D) splay modulation of the director field, accompanied by a 1D modulation of polar order. When the flexoelectric coupling between splay and polar order becomes sufficiently strong, the uniform nematic state becomes unstable to the formation of a modulated phase. Here we reexamine this theory in terms of a recent approach to liquid crystal elasticity, which shows that pure splay deformation is double splay rather than planar single splay. Following that reasoning, we propose a structure with a two-dimensional (2D) splay modulation of the director field, accompanied by a 2D modulation of polar order, and show that the 2D structure generally has a lower free energy than the 1D structure.
