# life: apropos of birth-and-death processes, framework for fluctuating times and counting observables in stochastic excursions.

<< ️Many natural systems exhibit dynamics characterized by alternating phases or recurring sets of states. Describing the fluctuations of such systems over stochastic trajectories is necessary across diverse fields, from biological motors to quantum thermal machines. >>

<< ️In an accompanying Letter, (AA) introduced the notion of stochastic excursions−a framework to analyze out of equilibrium processes via sub-trajectories. Through counting observables, this framework captures finite-time fluctuations and trajectory-level behavior, which provides insights into thermodynamical trade-offs between thermodynamic quantities of interest, such as entropy production and dynamical activity. >>

<< ️In this work, (AA) enhance this formalism by providing a suite of technical results on how to efficiently compute excursion-related quantities. (Their) analytical results provide explicit formulas for general moments of counting variables and excursion duration, as well as their covariance and conditional moments. (They) show that excursion statistics recover full counting statistics results, and uncover a relation between fluctuations of counting observables at single-excursion level and the steady state diffusion coefficient (noise). >> 

<< ️(AA) also discuss a fluctuation theorem for individual excursions and show that it implies a modified thermodynamic uncertainty relation at the excursion level. In addition, (They) explore how analyzing excursions and using the results developed here can yield insights into three problems of interest: the three-qubit absorption refrigerator, cellular sensing, and birth-and-death processes. >>

Guilherme Fiusa, Pedro E. Harunari, Abhaya S. Hegde, et al. Framework for fluctuating times and counting observables in stochastic excursions.

Phys. Rev. E 114, 024129. Aug 13, 2026.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/jydr-1853

arXiv: 2506.05160v3 [cond-mat.stat-mech]. Aug 19, 2026.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.05160

Also: Guilherme Fiusa, Pedro E. Harunari, Abhaya S. Hegde, et al. Counting observables in stochastic excursions. Phys. Rev. E 114, L022102 (2026). 

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/1blp-2b27

Also: walk, walking, uncertainty, fluctuations, random, noise, behav, Nomads, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: walk, walking, noise, uncertainty, behavior, fluctuations, randomness, stochasticity, stochastic excursions, Nomads. 

# gst: apropos of stretching during transitions, singularities in soft matter systems.

<< ️When a liquid thread pinches off, its neck thins as it separates into two unconnected regions. Using continuum mechanics, we can predict that the neck reaches zero radius in finite time while its curvature grows without bound. Together, the vanishing neck and diverging curvature form a finite-time singularity. >>

<< ️However, a real fluid does not realise these mathematical limits as molecular or material physics takes over once the neck becomes sufficiently small. Similar singularities arise throughout soft matter whenever a smooth continuum description is used at vanishing length scales. >>

<< ️This (AA) review asks what the shrinking region forgets, what it retains, and which material length, time, or stress cuts off the apparent divergence. The dynamics near a singularity often become self-similar, with profiles at different times collapsing onto one shape when rescaled by the shrinking local length. Sometimes that collapse is universal enough that the surrounding geometry and forcing no longer determine the local dynamics. Nonetheless, the measured output could still depend on how the shrinking region is fed by the surrounding flow and on the small-scale physics that finally replaces the ideal divergence. >>

<< ️Complex fluids and active matter change the same local balance by bringing their own timescales into the shrinking region. Beyond interfaces, the same logic applies when the localised object is a stress concentration or a defect in geometry or order rather than a moving surface. Singularities matter because they show where continuum theory stops being the relevant description and how the small-scale cutoff sets the outputs that count in printing, coating, aerosols, and stretchable solids. >>

Vatsal Sanjay. Singularities in Soft Matter Systems. arXiv: 2608.11060v1 [cond-mat.soft]. Aug 11, 2026.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11060

Also: elastic, singularity, transition, collapse, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: gst, elasticity, singularity, transitions, collapse, soft matter

# gst: stabilities in the attachment of a particle to a pendant droplet.

<< ️Attachment of a particle to a pendant drop was experimentally investigated by Feng et al. (2022)]. The attachment force on the particle, consisting of the surface tension force and the pressure force, can overcome the gravity force. The attachment in equilibrium is possibly hard to maintain in practice due to instabilities. >>

<< This (AA) paper aims to discover the condition for the particle to be successfully attached under the liquid drop (bridge) through analyzing the stabilities of the capillary system. With disturbances potentially existing for both the liquid bridge and the particle, the two corresponding types of stabilities are studied. >>

<< Considering the cases with liquid surfaces checked to be stable, (AA) find four regimes for the attachment of the particle: the regimes of stable attachment, possibly stable attachment, overloaded attachment, and nonphysical attachment. Only the first two regimes mean feasible attachments in practice. (Their) prediction of feasible attachments agrees well with Feng et al., indicating the validity of (Their) stability theory. Whether for fixed-density particles of different sizes or fixed-size particles of different densities, the attachment capability for the liquid bridge first decreases, then increases, and decreases again as the volume of the liquid bridge increases. This can guide practice for lifting particles of higher weight with the pendant drop. >>

Wanqiu Zhang, Fei Zhang, Xinping Zhou. Stabilities in the attachment of a particle to a pendant droplet. Phys. Rev. Fluids 11, 084001. Aug 7, 2026.

https://journals.aps.org/prfluids/abstract/10.1103/b63k-qk8s

Also: drop, droplet, droploid, particle, stability, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: gst, drops, droplets, droploids, particles, stability, fluid-particle interactions, interfacial flows, liquid bridges, surface & interfacial phenomena.

# gst: escape over a saddle by colored noise.

<< ️Stochastic dynamical systems allow modeling of transitions induced by random disturbances, in particular from an attracting equilibrium and crossing the stable manifold of a saddle. While the small-noise limit is well-described by the large deviation principle, existing computational methods often struggle with stochastic forcings any more complicated than nondegenerate Gaussian white noise, and with unbounded time intervals. >>

<< ️The primary innovations of this (AA) work are extending the framework to cater for colored and degenerate forcing and unbounded time horizons—scenarios that are physically realistic but numerically challenging. (They) cater for degenerate noise by using the Hamiltonian optimal control method. (They) cater for a class of colored noises by using linear filters on white noise. (They) cater for infinite time horizon by introducing the method of division (MOD), a computational approach for approximating rare transition events, including their most likely paths and the exponential scaling laws of their transition rates. >>

<< ️The effectiveness of MOD and the above approaches to colored noise, is demonstrated by illustration on two examples: an inverted double-well potential and a simplified roll-heave model for ship capsize. >>

Jiayao Shao (邵家瑶), Tobias Grafke, Robert S. MacKay. Escape over a saddle by colored noise: Theory and numerics. Phys. Rev. E 114, 024210. Aug 12, 2026.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/w8dd-9cqg

Also: escape, noise, random, transition, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: gst, escape, noise, randomness, stochasticity, transitions, noise-induced transitions, method of division (MOD), inverted double-well potential, simplified roll-heave model, large deviation & rare event statistics.

gst: nonreciprocal dynamics with weak noise: aperiodic “Escher cycles” and their quasipotential landscape.

<< ️(AA) present an explicit construction of the Freidlin-Wentzell quasipotential of a stochastic system with two degrees of freedom and nonreciprocal interactions. This model undergoes noise-induced transitions between four metastable attractors, forming recurrent but aperiodic “Escher cycles,” similar to the cyclic nucleation dynamics observed in the nonreciprocal Ising model. >>

<< (AA) calculate the quasipotential analytically to first order in nonreciprocality. (They) characterize it along a one-dimensional reaction coordinate that connects the attractors, and (They) also obtain the full two-dimensional landscape, at leading order in perturbation theory. >>

<< ️The resulting landscapes feature flat regions and extended plateaus, together with nondifferentiable switching lines. These singular structures arise from two geometric mechanisms: the handover of dominance between competing transition paths, and the competition between basins of attraction. The system provides a rare case where the geometry of nonequilibrium rare events can be fully resolved, and a simple analytically tractable example of a quasipotential in more than one coordinate that captures a rich set of nonequilibrium features. >>

Janik Schüttler, Robert L. Jack, Michael E. Cates. Nonreciprocal dynamics with weak noise: Aperiodic “Escher cycles” and their quasipotential landscape. Phys. Rev. E 114, 024104. Aug 3, 2026.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/slp9-rd27

Also: noise, random, transition, singularity, escape, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: gst, noise, randomness, stochasticity, transitions, singularity, nonreciprocal interactions, noise-induced transitions, metastable attractors, Escher cycles, perturbation theory, escape problems, large deviation & rare event statistics. 

# gst: apropos of persistence or extinction, lag-induced critical transitions to extinction in replicating systems; the 𝜏-tipping mechanism.

<< Replicating systems sustained by error-prone enzymatic amplification can undergo critical transitions between persistence and extinction. In RNA viruses, such transitions are classically governed by mutation rates and fitness landscape topographies, giving rise to error thresholds and lethal mutagenesis. >>

<< Motivated by experimental evidence that polymerase-targeting antivirals limit replication, (AA) analyze replicating systems with explicit time lags in replication-enzyme availability by means of delay differential equations. (Their) approach is not equivalent to a simple renormalization of the rate of replication, since explicit delays introduce memory and temporal nonlocality into the dynamics. (They)  identify a lag-induced critical transition driven by the loss of temporal coordination between genome expression and replication. >>

<< At fixed mutation and replication rates ensuring persistence, populations cross an extinction threshold solely due to replication delays. In (Their) delay-extended quasispecies model, the timing of replicase availability emerges as an independent dynamical control parameter, defining a route to extinction that is fundamentally distinct from transitions driven by mutation rates or replicative fitness. >>

<< These (AA) results further suggest that perturbing the temporal coordination of viral replication may provide an alternative antiviral strategy for driving viral populations toward collapse. More generally, (They) propose that the extinction mechanism described here constitutes a form of lag-time-induced tipping, which (They) denote as 𝜏-tipping. >>

Edward A. Turner, Francisco Crespo, Joan Gimeno, et al. Lag-induced critical transitions to extinction in replicating systems: the 𝜏-tipping mechanism. Phys. Rev. E 114, 024401. Aug 5, 2026.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/gyd9-ctnc

arXiv: 2603.02036v1 [q-bio.PE]. Mar 2, 2026. 

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02036

Also: transition, pause, silence, virus, collapse, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: gst, transitions, pause, silence, virus, error, collapse, genomes, RNA virus, replication, replicating systems, enzymatic amplification, criticality, persistence, extinction, mutation rates, fitness landscape topographies, error threshold, time-delay systems, lag-time-induced tipping, lag-induced critical transition, loss of temporal coordination.

# behav: noise-induced stability of insect swarms.

<< ️Flying insect swarms exhibit cohesion without the local velocity alignment observed in flocks of birds or schools of fish. The interaction rules and channels of communication between insects that lead to collective behavior have not yet been determined. >>

<< ️(AA) propose a theoretical model based on acoustic communication between swarm members, where each individual is attracted to a weighted mean field of its neighbors. (They) demonstrate that this simple framework can describe a wide range of swarming dynamics, including a phenomenon where pairs of insects break free from the swarm in a helical orbit around each other. >>

<< ️Counterintuitively, (Their) numerical model suggests that stochastic noise enhances the stability of an insect swarm, as it interferes with pair formation. >>

<< Finally, (AA) demonstrate that a specific species of malarial mosquito produces swarms that reside on the edge of a transition to instability. (Their) study shows that fairly simple local interaction rules can be sufficient to describe the collective behavior of swarming biological systems. >>

Justin Faber, Annabelle Boots, Dolores Bozovic. Noise-induced stability of insect swarms. arXiv: 2608.00314v2 [physics.bio-ph]. Aug 7, 2026.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00314

Also: swarm, behavior, noise, instability, transition, sound, jazz, dance, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: behavior, swarm, noise, instability, transitions, sound, jazz, dance, flying insects, collective behavior, acoustic communication, weighted mean field of neighbors.