Thermodynamic Mechanism of the Density and Compressibility Anomalies of Water in the Range -30<T(oC) <100

Compared to normal liquids, water exhibits a variety of anomalous thermal behaviors. This fact has been known for centuries. However, the thermodynamic mechanisms behind them have not been elucidated despite the efforts of many researchers. Under such circumstances, the author theoretically reproduced the measured values of the density-temperature curve at 1 atm for water above 0 oC. Then, the mystery of negative thermal expansion was clarified in relation to the shapes of the intermolecular interactions. In this paper, the author develops this line of work further and presents the interactions between water molecules to simultaneously reproduce the measured values of both the density-temperature curve and the isothermal compressibility-temperature curve in the range -30<100 at 1 atm. Then, the thermodynamic mechanism that produces these thermal behaviors is clarified in relation to the shapes of the interactions between molecules. Unraveling the mystery of related phenomena in relation to the shapes of the interaction between molecules has been a traditional and fundamental method in physics since the days of Newton.

Future Summer Drying in the U.S. Corn Belt and the Role of Midlatitude Storm Tracks

During the summer, the Midwest United States, which covers the main US corn belt, has a net loss of surface water as evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation. The net moisture gain into the atmosphere is transported out of the region to northern high latitudes through transient eddy moisture fluxes. How this process may change in the future is not entirely clear despite the fact that the corn belt region is responsible for a large portion of the global supply of corn and soybeans. We find that increased CO2 and the associated warming increases evapotranspiration. while precipitation reduces in the region leading to further reduction in precipitation minus evaporation (P-E) in the future. At the same time, the poleward transient moisture flux increases leading to enhanced atmospheric moistures export from the corn belt region. However, storm track intensity is generally weakened in the summer due to reduced north-south temperature gradient associated with amplified warming in the midlatitudes. The intensified transient eddy moisture transport as storm track weakens can be reconciled by the stronger mean moisture gradient in the future. This is found to be caused by the climatological low-level jet transporting more moisture into the Great Plains region due to the thermodynamic mechanism under warmer conditions. Our results, for the first time, show that in the future, the US Midwest corn belt will experience more hydrological stress due to intensified transient eddy moisture export leading to drier soils in the region.

Individual energetic processes efficiencies in a polycrystalline silicon PV cell versus electromagnetic field

The Photovoltaic (PV) system is often installed near the telecommunication antenna without takes account the performance degradation that the electromagnetic field can cause. The present work provides the recognition about the greatest losses occur which can cause the overall efficiency drop. In fact, the absorption and the thermodynamic processes are more sensitive to the variation of the electromagnetic field more than FF and thermalization processes in presence of the electromagnetic field. The absorption and thermodynamic mechanism are the main cause of the degradation of the polycrystalline silicon PV cell outputs. The PV cell having height base doping level to get a better resistivity to the electromagnetic field must be chosen to improve theses outputs. Then a low electromagnetic field zones must be searched to install the PV system improving its electrical production performance.

Self-replication of a quantum artificial organism driven by single-photon pulses

Imitating the transition from inanimate to living matter is a longstanding challenge. Artificial life has achieved computer programs that self-replicate, mutate, compete and evolve, but lacks self-organized hardwares akin to the self-assembly of the first living cells. Nonequilibrium thermodynamics has achieved lifelike self-organization in diverse physical systems, but has not yet met the open-ended evolution of living organisms. Here, I look for the emergence of an artificial-life code in a nonequilibrium physical system undergoing self-organization. I devise a toy model where the onset of self-replication of a quantum artificial organism (a chain of lambda systems) is owing to single-photon pulses added to a zero-temperature environment. I find that spontaneous mutations during self-replication are unavoidable in this model, due to rare but finite absorption of off-resonant photons. I also show that the replication probability is proportional to the absorbed work from the photon, thereby fulfilling a dissipative adaptation (a thermodynamic mechanism underlying lifelike self-organization). These results hint at self-replication as the scenario where dissipative adaptation (pointing towards convergence) coexists with open-ended evolution (pointing towards divergence).

Size conservation emerges spontaneously in biomolecular condensates formed by scaffolds and surfactant clients

Biomolecular condensates are liquid-like membraneless compartments that contribute to the spatiotemporal organization of proteins, RNA, and other biomolecules inside cells. Some membraneless compartments, such as nucleoli, are dispersed as different condensates that do not grow beyond a certain size, or do not present coalescence over time. In this work, using a minimal protein model, we show that phase separation of binary mixtures of scaffolds and low-valency clients that can act as surfactants—i.e., that significantly reduce the droplet surface tension—can yield either a single drop or multiple droplets that conserve their sizes on long timescales (herein ‘multidroplet size-conserved’ scenario’), depending on the scaffold to client ratio. Our simulations demonstrate that protein connectivity and condensate surface tension regulate the balance between these two scenarios. The multidroplet size-conserved scenario spontaneously arises at increasing surfactant-to-scaffold concentrations, when the interfacial penalty for creating small liquid droplets is sufficiently reduced by the surfactant proteins that are preferentially located at the interface. In contrast, low surfactant-to-scaffold concentrations enable continuous growth and fusion of droplets without restrictions. Overall, our work proposes one thermodynamic mechanism to help rationalize how size-conserved coexisting condensates can persist inside cells—shedding light on the roles of protein connectivity, binding affinity, and droplet composition in this process.