We employ Monte Carlo simulations to study a stochastic Lotka-Volterra model on a two-dimensional square lattice with periodic boundary conditions. If the (local) prey carrying capacity is finite, there exists an extinction threshold for the predator population that separates a stable active two-species coexistence phase from an inactive state wherein only prey survive. Holding all other rates ...

The recently proposed strategy for studying the equilibrium thermodynamics of the glass phase using a molecular liquid is reviewed and tested in details on the solvable case of the p-spin model. We derive the general phase diagram, and confirm the validity of this procedure. We point out the efficacy of a system of two weakly coupled copies in order to identify the glass transition, and the nec...

We consider the dynamics of bubble growth in the Minimal Standard Model at the electroweak phase transition and determine the shape and the velocity of the phase boundary, or bubble wall. We show that in the semi-classical approximation the friction on the wall arises from the deviation of massive particle populations from thermal equilibrium. We treat these with Boltzmann equations in a fluid ...

We study indented spherical colloids, interacting via depletion forces. These systems exhibit liquid-vapor phase transitions whose properties are determined by a combination of strong "lock-and-key" bonds and weaker nonspecific interactions. As the propensity for lock-and-key binding increases, the critical point moves to significantly lower density, and the coexisting phases change their struc...

Cyclically loaded disordered particle systems, such as granular packings and amorphous media, display a non-equilibrium phase transition towards irreversibility. Here, we investigate numerically the cyclic deformation of a colloidal polycrystal with impurities and reveal a transition to irreversible behavior driven by the displacement of dislocations. At the phase transition we observe enhanced...

Elaborating on previous theoretical treatments of the roughening transition, I provide the exact mapping of a surface model which undergoes both roughening and preroughening onto a mixture of unit and double charges living on the square lattice. Depending on the model parameters, the preroughening transition of the surface can be either continuous or discontinuous. Using the surface temperature...

In the present article, evolution of microstructure during solidification, as a function of various parameters, is discussed. Macrosegregation is described as being due to insufficient diffusivity of solute in the solid. Pattern formation is discussed in the light of instabilities at the solidification growth front. An overview of the scaling relations for various microstructures is given. Meta...

We extend our iterated linear programming (LP) approach (Bullard and Biegler, 1991) to two-phase vapor-liquid equilibrium problems, which are characterized by regions of continuous operation with nonsmooth boundaries. Here we show that a simple reformulation allows us to handle the disappearance or reappearance of phases and thus allows us to solve a wider class of process problems. The propose...