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2024 Articolo in rivista open access

Pattern formation by turbulent cascades

de Wit, Xander M. ; Fruchart, Michel ; Khain, Tali ; Toschi, Federico ; Vitelli, Vincenzo

Fully developed turbulence is a universal and scale-invariant chaotic state characterized by an energy cascade from large to small scales at which the cascade is eventually arrested by dissipation1–6. Here we show how to harness these seemingly structureless turbulent cascades to generate patterns. Pattern formation entails a process of wavelength selection, which can usually be traced to the linear instability of a homogeneous state7. By contrast, the mechanism we propose here is fully nonlinear. It is triggered by the non-dissipative arrest of turbulent cascades: energy piles up at an intermediate scale, which is neither the system size nor the smallest scales at which energy is usually dissipated. Using a combination of theory and large-scale simulations, we show that the tunable wavelength of these cascade-induced patterns can be set by a non-dissipative transport coefficient called odd viscosity, ubiquitous in chiral fluids ranging from bioactive to quantum systems8–12. Odd viscosity, which acts as a scale-dependent Coriolis-like force, leads to a two-dimensionalization of the flow at small scales, in contrast with rotating fluids in which a two-dimensionalization occurs at large scales4. Apart from odd viscosity fluids, we discuss how cascade-induced patterns can arise in natural systems, including atmospheric flows13–19, stellar plasma such as the solar wind20–22, or the pulverization and coagulation of objects or droplets in which mass rather than energy cascades23–25.

energy transfer, hydrodynamics, mathematical model, pattern formation, turbulent cascade
2024 Articolo in rivista open access

Localization–delocalization transition for light particles in turbulence

Wang, Ziqi ; de Wit, Xander M. ; Toschi, Federico

Small bubbles in fluids rise to the surface due to Archimede’s force. Remarkably, in turbulent flows this process is severely hindered by the presence of vortex filaments, which act as moving potential wells, dynamically trapping light particles and bubbles. Quantifying the statistical weights and roles of vortex filaments in turbulence is, however, still an outstanding experimental and computational challenge due to their small scale, fast chaotic motion, and transient nature. Here we show that, under the influence of a modulated oscillatory forcing, the collective bubble behavior switches from a dynamically localized to a delocalized state. Additionally, we find that by varying the forcing frequency and amplitude, a remarkable resonant phenomenon between light particles and small-scale vortex filaments emerges, likening particle behavior to a forced damped oscillator. We discuss how these externally actuated bubbles can be used as a type of microscopic probe to investigate the space-time statistical properties of the smallest turbulence scales, allowing to quantitatively measure physical characteristics of vortex filaments. We develop a superposition model that is in excellent agreement with the simulation data of the particle dynamics which reveals the fraction of localized/delocalized particles as well as characteristics of the potential landscape induced by vortices in turbulence. Our approach paves the way for innovative ways to accurately measure turbulent properties and to the possibility to control light particles and bubble motions in turbulence with potential applications to oceanography, medical imaging, drug/gene delivery, chemical reactions, wastewater treatment, and industrial mixing.

light particles turbulence vortex filaments
2024 Articolo in rivista open access

Bridge Monitoring Strategies for Sustainable Development with Microwave Radar Interferometry

Zou L. ; Feng W. ; Masci O. ; Nico G. ; Alani A. M. ; Sato M.

The potential of a coherent microwave radar for infrastructure health monitoring has been investigated over the past decade. Microwave radar measuring based on interferometry processing is a non-invasive technique that can measure the line-of-sight (LOS) displacements of large infrastructure with sub-millimeter precision and provide the corresponding frequency spectrum. It has the capability to estimate infrastructure vibration simultaneously and remotely with high accuracy and repeatability, which serves the long-term serviceability of bridge structures within the context of the long-term sustainability of civil engineering infrastructure management. In this paper, we present three types of microwave radar systems employed to monitor the displacement of bridges in Japan and Italy. A technique that fuses polarimetric analysis and the interferometry technique for bridge monitoring is proposed. Monitoring results achieved with full polarimetric real aperture radar (RAR), step-frequency continuous-wave (SFCW)-based linear synthetic aperture, and multi-input multi-output (MIMO) array sensors are also presented. The results reveal bridge dynamic responses under different loading conditions, including wind, vehicular traffic, and passing trains, and show that microwave sensor interferometry can be utilized to monitor the dynamics of bridge structures with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. This paper demonstrates that microwave sensor interferometry with efficient, cost-effective, and non-destructive properties is a serious contender to employment as a sustainable infrastructure monitoring technology serving the sustainable development agenda.

sustainable infrastructure monitoring bridge monitoring microwave radar interferometry polarimetry sustainable development
2024 Articolo in rivista open access

Improving the Accuracy and Spatial Resolution of ERA5 Precipitable Water Vapor Using InSAR Data

Mateus P. ; Catalao J. ; Nico G.

The interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique has demonstrated its ability to capture temporal variations in tropospheric water vapor, providing a valuable source of information for numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. Integrating InSAR data into NWP models has the potential to significantly enhance their forecasting capabilities, especially for predicting local extreme weather events. The challenge lies in extracting a single epoch from the InSAR differential observations. In this work, we introduced a method based on the least-squares approach to estimate single epochs using the ERA5 reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWFs) as a first guess. By leveraging ERA5 data, distinct atmospheric components can be disentangled without additional assumptions or external measurements. Since ERA5 is globally available at 1-h temporal resolution, the proposed method can be applied in remote areas without in situ data, providing improved high-resolution maps at all times (day/night) and in all weather conditions.

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) least-squares method numerical weather prediction (NWP) model precipitable water vapor (PWV) reanalysis data
2024 Articolo in rivista open access

Strategy for vertical deformation of railway bridge monitoring using polarimetric ground-based real aperture radar system

Zou L. ; Nico G. ; Alani A. M. ; Sato M.

The health monitoring of infrastructure is vital for ensuring the safety and structural integrity of bridges. Recently, ground-based real aperture radar (GB-RAR) systems have been successfully utilized in the dynamic and static monitoring of bridges. In this study, a comprehensive and innovative approach is presented to monitor the vertical deformation of a long-span metallic railway bridge and a reinforced concrete Shinkansen bridge in Japan using a polarimetric GB-RAR system. Distinct from conventional signal processing procedures, the proposed method omits the coherent scatterer selection step. Instead, polarization analysis is employed to evaluate the properties of scatterers and identify those corresponding to bridge sections requiring monitoring, while considering the structural characteristics of the bridge. Simultaneously, the signal-to-noise ratio for monitoring is enhanced by combining co-polarization responses from scatterers. Furthermore, the radar look angle is determined by accounting for the spatial configuration of the survey and the polarization orientation angle. Lastly, vertical deformation is assessed by projecting line of sight deformation in the vertical direction. The findings reveal the dynamic responses of the two bridges under diverse loading conditions, which include the transit of a low-speed train and a high-speed Shinkansen bullet train. The results demonstrate that the polarimetric GB-RAR interferometry technique, coupled with the developed algorithms, can be effectively applied to monitor any type of bridge with unparalleled spatial and temporal resolutions.

Bridge monitoring Ground-based Real Aperture Radar (GB-RAR) Interferometry radar polarimetry Shinkansen bridge vertical deformation
2024 Contributo in Atti di convegno open access

From Training KPIs to Learning KPIs: Ensuring Effectiveness in Learning Processes Through Predictive Analytics and Data-Based Tutoring Actions

Daniela Pellegrini ; Mario Santoro ; Sara Zuzzi

This work presents the analysis model of the study data available in the LMS platforms specifically designed to analyze potential critical issues as a functional indicator for the possible achievement of the training objectives and completion of the course. The illustrated system highlights how the use of statistical indicators and predictability can be an effective tool for the early identification of possible critical issues in the field of training results, as well as design and organizational inconsistencies that can weigh on the effectiveness of the training system made available. Our work explains how adopting a data analysis model applied to training environments provides the tutoring system with adequate information on potential critical issues to favor targeted interventions on the participants to prevent risks of training ineffectiveness. At the same time, it analyzes the global quality of the courses made available through a perspective of data exploration that starts from the learning experience and enhances the data already present in the LMS platforms.

Learning KPI, Criticial Issues, Course Quality
2024 Working paper open access

Large-scale analysis of the medical discourse on rheumatoid arthritis: complementing a socio-anthropologic analysis

The medical discourse, entails the analysis of the modalities, far from unbiased, by which hypotheses and results are laid out in the dissemination of findings in scientific publications, giving different emphases on the background, relevance, robustness, and assumptions that the audience should take for granted. While this concept is extensively studied in socio-anthropology, it remains generally overlooked within the scientific community conducting the research. Yet, analyzing the discourse is crucial for several reasons: to frame policies that take into account an appropriately large screen of medical opportunities, to avoid overseeing promising but less walked paths, to grasp different types of representations of diseases, therapies, patients, and other stakeholders, understanding and being aware of how these very terms are conditioned by time, culture and so on. While socio-anthropologists traditionally use manual curation methods, automated approaches like topic modeling offer a complementary way to explore the vast and ever-growing body of medical literature. In this work, we propose a complementary analysis of the medical discourse regarding the therapies offered for rheumatoid arthritis using topic modeling and large language model-based emotion and sentiment analysis.

medical discourse; large language models; topic modeling; rheumatoid arthritis; disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug; physical therapies; vagus nerve stimulation.
2024 Articolo in rivista open access

The quantum transition of the two-dimensional Ising spin glass

Quantum annealers are commercial devices that aim to solve very hard computational problems1, typically those involving spin glasses2,3. Just as in metallurgic annealing, in which a ferrous metal is slowly cooled4, quantum annealers seek good solutions by slowly removing the transverse magnetic field at the lowest possible temperature. Removing the field diminishes the quantum fluctuations but forces the system to traverse the critical point that separates the disordered phase (at large fields) from the spin-glass phase (at small fields). A full understanding of this phase transition is still missing. A debated, crucial question regards the closing of the energy gap separating the ground state from the first excited state. All hopes of achieving an exponential speed-up, compared to classical computers, rest on the assumption that the gap will close algebraically with the number of spins5–9. However, renormalization group calculations predict instead that there is an infinite-randomness fixed point10. Here we solve this debate through extreme-scale numerical simulations, finding that both parties have grasped parts of the truth. Although the closing of the gap at the critical point is indeed super-algebraic, it remains algebraic if one restricts the symmetry of possible excitations. As this symmetry restriction is experimentally achievable (at least nominally), there is still hope for the quantum annealing paradigm11–13.

Quantum Spin Glasses Spin Glasses Disorder Systems
2024 Articolo in rivista open access

The QISG suite: High-performance codes for studying quantum Ising spin glasses

We release a set of GPU programs for the study of the Quantum (S=1/2) Spin Glass on a square lattice, with binary couplings. The library contains two main codes: MCQSG (that carries out Monte Carlo simulations using both the Metropolis and the Parallel Tempering algorithms, for the problem formulated in the Trotter-Suzuki approximation), and EDQSG (that obtains the extremal eigenvalues of the Transfer Matrix using the Lanczos algorithm). EDQSG has allowed us to diagonalize transfer matrices with size up to 236×236. From its side, MCQSG running on four NVIDIA A100 cards delivers a sub-picosecond time per spin-update, a performance that is competitive with dedicated hardware. We include as well in our library GPU programs for the analysis of the spin configurations generated by MCQSG. Finally, we provide two auxiliary codes: the first generates the lookup tables employed by the random number generator of MCQSG; the second one simplifies the execution of multiple runs using different input data. Program summary: Program Title: QISG Suite CPC Library link to program files: https://doi.org/10.17632/g97sn2t8z2.1 Licensing provisions: MIT Programming language: CUDA-C Nature of problem: The critical properties of quantum disordered systems are known only in a few, simple, cases whereas there is a growing interest in gaining a better understanding of their behaviour due to the potential application of quantum annealing techniques for solving optimization problems. In this context, we provide a suite of codes, that we have recently developed, to the purpose of studying the 2D Quantum Ising Spin Glass. Solution method: We provide a highly tuned multi-GPU code for the Montecarlo simulation of the 2D QISG based on a combination of Metropolis and Parallel Tempering algorithms. Moreover, we provide a code for the evaluation of the eigenvalues of the transfer matrix of the 2D QISG for size up to L=6. The eigenvalues are computed by using the classic Lanczos algorithm that, however, relies on a custom multi-GPU-CPU matrix-vector product that speeds-up dramatically the execution of the algorithm.

CUDA Eigenvalues of transfer matrix Metropolis Parallel tempering Quantum spin glass
2024 Articolo in rivista restricted access

Quantifying Memory in Spin Glasses

Paga I. ; He J. ; Baity-Jesi M. ; Calore E. ; Cruz A. ; Fernandez L. A. ; Gil-Narvion J. M. ; Gonzalez-Adalid Pemartin I. ; Gordillo-Guerrero A. ; Iniguez D. ; Maiorano A. ; Vincenzo Marinari ; Martin-Mayor V. ; Moreno-Gordo J. ; Munoz Sudupe A. ; Navarro D. ; Orbach R. L. ; Parisi G. ; Perez-Gaviro S. ; Federico Ricci-Tersenghi ; Ruiz-Lorenzo J. J. ; Schifano S. F. ; Schlagel D. L. ; Seoane B. ; Tarancon A. ; Yllanes D.

Rejuvenation and memory, long considered the distinguishing features of spin glasses, have recently been proven to result from the growth of multiple length scales. This insight, enabled by simulations on the Janus II supercomputer, has opened the door to a quantitative analysis. We combine numerical simulations with comparable experiments to introduce two coefficients that quantify memory. A third coefficient has been recently presented by Freedberg et al. We show that these coefficients are physically equivalent by studying their temperature and waiting-time dependence.

Magnetism, Spin glasses
2024 Articolo in rivista open access

Multifractality in spin glasses

Marco Baity-Jesi ; Enrico Calore ; Andrés Cruz ; Luis Antonio Fernández ; José Miguel Gil-Narvión ; Gonzalez-Adalid Pemartin I. ; Antonio Gordillo-Guerrero ; David Íñiguez ; Andrea Maiorano ; Vincenzo Marinari ; Víctor Martín-Mayor ; Javier Moreno-Gordo ; Antonio Muñoz Sudupe ; Denis Navarro ; Ilaria Paga ; Giorgio Parisi ; Sergio Pérez-Gaviro ; Federico Ricci-Tersenghi ; Juan Jesús Ruiz-Lorenzo ; Sebastiano Fabio Schifano ; Beatriz Seoane ; Alfonso Tarancón ; David Yllanes

Weunveil the multifractal behavior of Ising spin glasses in their low-temperature phase. Using the Janus II custom-built supercomputer, the spin-glass correlation function is studied locally. Dramatic fluctuations are found when pairs of sites at the same distance are compared. The scaling of these fluctuations, as the spin-glass coherence length grows with time, is characterized through the computation of the singularity spectrum and its corresponding Legendre transform. A comparatively small number of site pairs controls the average correlation that governs the response to a magnetic field. We explain how this scenario of dramatic fluctuations (at length scales smaller than the coherence length) can be reconciled with the smooth, self-averaging behavior that has long been considered to describe spin-glass dynamics.

disorder systems fractal dimensions intermittency large scale simulations
2024 Articolo in rivista restricted access

Shortcuts of Freely Relaxing Systems Using Equilibrium Physical Observables

Gonzalez-Adalid Pemartin I. ; Mompo E. ; Lasanta A. ; Martin-Mayor V. ; Salas J.

Many systems, when initially placed far from equilibrium, exhibit surprising behavior in their attempt to equilibrate. Striking examples are the Mpemba effect and the cooling-heating asymmetry. These anomalous behaviors can be exploited to shorten the time needed to cool down (or heat up) a system. Though, a strategy to design these effects in mesoscopic systems is missing. We bring forward a description that allows us to formulate such strategies, and, along the way, makes natural these paradoxical behaviors. In particular, we study the evolution of macroscopic physical observables of systems freely relaxing under the influence of one or two instantaneous thermal quenches. The two crucial ingredients in our approach are timescale separation and a nonmonotonic temperature evolution of an important state function. We argue that both are generic features near a first-order transition. Our theory is exemplified with the one-dimensional Ising model in a magnetic field using analytic results and numerical experiments.

Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, markovian processes, Ising model
2024 Contributo in Atti di convegno restricted access

Developments of the σ-IASI/F2N radiative transfer model: a new linear-in-T approach for accurate treatment of clouds

Masiello G. ; Serio C. ; Liuzzi G. ; Pasquariello P. ; Giosa R. ; Maestri T. ; Martinazzo M. ; Masin F. ; Cassini L. ; Donat F. ; Pelliccia G. P. ; Venafra S. ; Sgheri L. ; De Cosmo F.

The new σ-IASI/F2N radiative transfer model is an advancement of the σ-IASI model, introduced in 2002. It enables rapid simulations of Earth-emitted radiance and Jacobians under various sky conditions and geometries, covering the spectral range of 3-100 μm. Successfully utilized in δ-IASI, the advanced Optimal Estimation tool tailored for the IASI MetOp interferometer, its extension to the Far Infrared (FIR) holds significance for the ESA Earth Explorer FORUM mission, necessitating precise cloud radiative effect treatment, crucial in regions with dense clouds and temperature gradients. The model's update, incorporating the "linear-in-T" correction, addresses these challenges, complementing the "linear-in-tau" approach. Demonstrations highlight its effectiveness in simulating cloud complexities, with the integration of the "linear-in-T" and Tang correction for the computation of cloud radiative effects. The results presented will show that the updated σ-IASI/F2N can treat the overall complexity of clouds effectively and completely, at the same time minimizing biases.

Infrared, Radiative Transfer, Clouds, Satellite, Analytical Derivative, Fast Forward Model, Scattering
2024 Abstract in Atti di convegno open access

The role of environmental variability for the onset of on-off intermittency in host-parasitoid models

The volume collects the long abstracts of the 79 contributions presented during the fourth edition of the “Young Applied Mathematicians Conference” (YAMC, www.yamc.it). Organized in Rome under the sponsorship of the Institute for Applied Mathematics (IAC) of the CNR and the Department of Mathematics at Sapienza, University of Rome, the conference took place from September 16 to 20, 2024, and brought together primarily young researchers (students, PhD candidates, post-docs, etc.) from 37 universities and research centers across 8 countries. This volume is intended to promote the communication of the research presented in the field of applied mathematics, with a primary focus on numerical analysis, artificial intelligence, statistics, and mathematical modeling.

Book of Abstracts, YAMC, Applied Mathematics
2024 Articolo in rivista metadata only access

Relaxing the sharp density stratification and columnar motion assumptions in layered shallow water systems

Adim M. ; Bianchini R. ; Duchene V.

We rigorously justify the bilayer shallow-water system as an approximation to the hydrostatic Euler equations in situations where the flow is density-stratified with close-to-piecewise constant density profiles, and close-to-columnar velocity profiles. Our theory accommodates with continuous stratification, so that admissible deviations from bilayer profiles are not pointwise small. This leads us to define refined approximate solutions that are able to describe at first order the flow in the pycnocline. Because the hydrostatic Euler equations are not known to enjoy suitable stability estimates, we rely on thickness-diffusivity contributions proposed by Gent and McWilliams. Our strategy also applies to one-layer and multilayer frameworks.

Columnar motion Hydrostatic models Internal waves Sharp stratification limit
2024 Articolo in rivista metadata only access

Mathematical Insights into Hydrostatic Modeling of Stratified Fluids

Bianchini R. ; Ertzbischoff L.

We review recent mathematical results concerning the analysis of hydrostatic equations in the context of stably stratified fluids. Beginning with the simpler and better understood setting of homogeneous fluids, we emphasize the additional mathematical challenges posed by non-homogeneous framework. We present both positive and negative results, including well-posedness and proof of the hydrostatic limit with a suitable regularization, alongside ill-posedness in the fully inviscid setting and the breakdown of the hydrostatic limit in specific scenarios.

hydrostatic limit instabilities oceanography PDE stratified fluids well-posedness
2024 open access

Nondestructive evaluation of interface defects in layered media

In a layered thermal conductor, the inaccessible interface could be dam- aged by mechanical solicitation, chemical infiltration, aging. In this case, the original thermal properties of the specimen are modified. The defect occurs typically in form of delamination. The present paper deals with nondestructive evaluation of interface ther- mal conductance h from the knowledge of the surface temperature when the specimen is heated in some controlled way. The goal is achieved by expanding h in powers of the thickness of the upper layer. The mathematical analysis of the model produces exact formulas for the first coefficients of h which are tested on simulated and real data. The evaluation of interface flaws comes from reliable approximation of h.

Imperfect interface, thermal contact conductance, heat equation, inverse problems
2024 Articolo in rivista restricted access

Dynamics and structures of amyloid aggregates under fluid flows

Antonio Iorio ; Simone Melchionna ; Philippe Derreumaux ; Fabio Sterpone

In this work, we investigate how fluid flows impact the aggregation mechanisms of Aβ40 proteins and Aβ16–22 peptides and mechanically perturb their (pre)fibrillar aggregates. We exploit the OPEP coarse-grained model for proteins and the Lattice Boltzmann Molecular Dynamics technique. We show that beyond a critical shear rate, amyloid aggregation speeds up in Couette flow because of the shorter collisions times between aggregates, following a transition from diffusion limited to advection dominated dynamics. We also characterize the mechanical deformation of (pre)fibrillar states due to the fluid flows (Couette and Poiseuille), confirming the capability of (pre)fibrils to form pathological loop-like structures as detected in experiments. Our findings can be of relevance for microfluidic applications and for understanding aggregation in the interstitial brain space.

Amyloid, fluid flow
2024 restricted access

Comparison of effective and stable Langevin dynamics integrators

Bogdan Tanygin ; Simone Melchionna

Langevin and Brownian simulations play a prominent role in computational research, and state of the art integration algorithms provide trajectories with different stability ranges and accuracy in reproducing statistical averages. The practical usability of integrators is an important aspect to allow choosing large time steps while ensuring numerical stability and overall computational efficiency. In this work, different use cases and practical features are selected in order to perform a cumulative comparison of integrators with a focus on evaluating the derived velocity and position autocorrelation functions, a comparison that is often disregarded in the literature. A standard industrial open-source software methodology is suggested to compare systematically the different algorithms.

Langevin, integrators
2024 Articolo in rivista restricted access

Nucleation of multi-species crystals: methane cleatrate hydrates, a playground for classical force models

Nucleation and growth of methane clathrate hydrates is an exceptional playground to study crystallisation of multi-component, host-guest crystallites when one of the species forming the crystal, the guest, has a higher concentration in the solid than in the liquid phase. This adds problems related to the transport of the low concentration species, here methane. A key aspect in the modelling of clathrates is the water model employed in the simulation. In previous articles, we compared an all-atom force model, TIP4P/Ewald, with a coarse grain one, which is highly appreciated for its computational efficiency. Here, we perform a complementary analysis considering three all-atoms water models: TIP4P/Ewald, TIP4P/ice and TIP5P. A key difference between these models is that the former predicts a much lower freezing temperature. Intuitively, one expects that to lower freezing temperatures of water correspond to lower water/methane-methane gas-clathrate coexistence ones, which determines the degree of supercooling and the degree of supersaturation. Hence, in the simulation conditions, 250 K (500 atm, and fixed methane molar fraction), one expects computational samples made of TIP4P-ice and TIP5P, with a similar freezing temperature (T-f similar to 273 K), to be more supersaturated with respect to the case of TIP4P-Ew (T-f similar to 245 K), and crystallisation to be faster. Surprisingly, we find that while the nucleation rate is consistent with this prediction, growth rate with TIP4P-ice and TIP5P is much slower than with TIP4P-Ew. The latter was attributed to the slower reorientation of water molecules in strong supercooled conditions, resulting in a lower growth rate. This suggests that the freezing temperature is not a suitable parameter to evaluate the adequacy of a water model.[GRAPHICS]

Clathrates crystallisation nucleation growth force models non-equilibrium molecular dynamics