Condensation and Intermittency in an Open Boundary Aggregation-Fragmentation Model

TL;DR

This paper investigates boundary-driven condensation phenomena in aggregation-fragmentation models with non-conserved mass, revealing phase transitions to a condensate state with strong intermittency and fluctuations, supported by numerical and analytical methods.

Contribution

It introduces a novel boundary-driven aggregation-fragmentation model exhibiting phase transitions to condensate states with unique intermittency features.

Findings

System undergoes a phase transition to a condensate with giant fluctuations.

Intermittency and strong fluctuations are characteristic of the condensate phase.

Phase transition also occurs with biased movement of large masses, with notable differences.

Abstract

We study real space condensation in aggregation-fragmentation models where the total mass is not conserved, as in phenomena like cloud formation and intracellular trafficking. We study the scaling properties of the system with influx and outflux of mass at the boundaries using numerical simulations, supplemented by analytical results in the absence of fragmentation. The system is found to undergo a phase transition to an unusual condensate phase, characterized by strong intermittency and giant fluctuations of the total mass. A related phase transition also occurs for biased movement of large masses, but with some crucial differences which we highlight.