We present and investigate a new infinite family of homogeneous equations which possess the Laurent property. The first representative in this family is the well-known Somos-5 recurrence.

Overlapping fish-scale architectures are among nature's most distinctive surface adaptations, combining protection, contact regulation, hydrodynamics, optical and directional mechanical response within a thin textured integument. Here, we show that their biomimetic structural analogues can host deterministic chaos. Biomimetic scale substrates develop chaotic flexural vibrations at modest amplitudes because bending activates unilateral contact and progressive jamming, while built-in asymmetry from unequal texturing biases the restoring response and shifts the onset of chaos. From continuum mechanics, we derive a singular reduced-order model (sROM) that reduces the scale-covered beam to a nonlinear oscillator whose parameters map directly to overlap, scale inclination, damping, forcing, and substrate stiffness. Finite element (FE) simulations validate the model in quasi-static bending and long-time forced response. Stroboscopic regime maps reveal a period-doubling cascade from period-1 to period-2 and period-4, ultimately chaos. Overlap and inclination determine the strength of post-engagement nonlinearity, whereas damping bounds the chaotic operating window. Unequal top-bottom scale distributions break the antisymmetry of the restoring response, generating offset force-displacement laws. This reduced symmetry does not accelerate instability; instead, it delays the onset of chaos and fragments the response into intermittent periodic windows, whereas restoring symmetry can paradoxically widen the chaotic regime. When the texture is sufficiently sparse or steep on one side, it remains dynamically inactive, and the beam behaves as a fully asymmetric one-sided system. The results identify biomimetic scale substrates as a distinct class of contact-rich architectured metasurfaces in which chaos is programmable through geometry rather than large deflection or constitutive nonlinearity.

We consider several examples of nonautonomous systems of difference equations coming from semi-classical orthogonal polynomials via recurrence coefficients and ladder operators, with respect to various generalisations of Laguerre and Meixner weights. We identify these as discrete Painlevé equations and establish their types in the Sakai classification scheme in terms of the associated rational surfaces. In particular, we find examples which come from different weights and share a common surface type $D_5^{(1)}$ but are inequivalent in two ways. First, their dynamics are generated by non-conjugate elements of $\widehat{W}(A_3^{(1)})$. Second, some of the examples have associated surfaces being non-generic in the sense of having nodal curves. The symmetries of these examples form subgroups of the generic symmetry group, which we compute. In particular, we find $(W(A_1^{(1)})\times W(A_1^{(1)}))\rtimes \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$. These examples give further weight to the argument that any correspondence between different weights and the Sakai classification should make use of the refined version of the discrete Painlevé equivalence problem, which takes into account not just surface type, but also the group elements generating the dynamics as well as parameter constraints, e.g. those corresponding to nodal curves.

The Melnikov-Arnold integrals (MA-integrals) is a well-known instrument used to measure the splitting of separatrices in Hamiltonian systems. In this article, we explore how calculation of MA-integrals can be used as well to estimate sizes of secondary resonances. Within the standard map model, we show how the newly developed MA-based procedure allows one to estimate the sizes of secondary resonances of any order (up to the order of the optimal normal form), without relying on the cumbersome traditional normalization procedure.

We investigate the relation between the one--dimensional free particle and the harmonic oscillator from a unified viewpoint based on projective geometry, Cayley transformations, and the Schwarzian derivative. Treating time as a projective coordinate on $\mathbb {RP}^1$ clarifies the $SL(2,\mathbb R)\cong Sp(2,\mathbb R)$ conformal sector of the Schrödinger--Jacobi symmetry and provides a common framework for two seemingly different correspondences: the Cayley--Niederer (lens) map between the time--dependent Schrödinger equations and the conformal bridge transformation relating the stationary problems. We formulate these relations as canonical transformations on the extended phase space and as their metaplectic lifts, identifying the quantum Cayley map with the Bargmann transform. General time reparametrizations induce oscillator--type terms governed universally by the Schwarzian cocycle, connecting the present construction to broader appearances of Schwarzian dynamics.

We investigate iterated function systems (IFS) that randomly alternate between two non-identical one-dimensional maps. Our primary focus is on finite invariant sets exhibiting ``toss-and-catch'' dynamics, in which trajectories alternate between fixed points and periodic orbits of the constituent maps. We derive exact parameter conditions for several toss-and-catch structures in a pair of logistic maps (logistic IFS) and a combination of logistic and tent maps (logistic-tent IFS). Notably, we identify cases in which the invariant set contains bridging points that belong to neither of the invariant sets of the individual maps.

We discuss the semiclassical approximation to transport problems in quantum chaotic systems. The figures of merit are moments of the transmission matrix and of the time delay matrix. After reviewing a few results obtained by treating these matrices are random matrices, we show how expressions for their elements in terms of sums over trajectories lead to diagrammatic formulations that correspond to perturbative calculations. This semiclassical approach agrees with random matrix theory when it should, and allows further elements to be incorporated, like tunnel barriers, superconductors, absorption effects. We also discuss how this approach can be encoded in matrix integrals, resulting in a powerful and versatile theory that is amenable to algebraic solutions.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions are critical for epidemic suppression but impose substantial societal costs, motivating feedback control policies that adapt to time-varying transmission. We formulate an infinite-horizon optimal control problem for a mobility-coupled networked SIQR epidemic model that minimizes isolation burden while enforcing epidemic suppression through a spectral decay condition. From this formulation, we derive a safety-critical Model Predictive Control (MPC) framework in which the spectral certificate is imposed as a hard stage-wise constraint, yielding a tunable exponential decay rate for infections. Exploiting the monotone depletion of susceptible populations, we construct a robust terminal set and safe backup policy. This structure ensures recursive feasibility and finite-horizon closed-loop exponential decay, and it certifies the existence of a globally stabilizing feasible continuation under bounded worst-case transmission rates. Numerical simulations on a 14-county Massachusetts network under a variant-induced surge show that, with administrative rate limits, reactive myopic control fails whereas MPC anticipates the shock and maintains exponential decay with lower isolation burden.

We investigate a many-body interacting system of quantum kicked rotors, where each rotor resides in its respective quantum resonance. Rich many-body dynamics are found to emerge from the interplay between the principal and secondary resonances. In particular, for both the wavepacket and bipartite entanglement entropy, we analytically demonstrate three distinct dynamical regimes -- quadratic spreading (growth), period-2 oscillation, and their hybrid -- governed by the respective symmetries of the relevant potentials. Based on these symmetries, the connection between the wavepacket and the entanglement dynamics is illustrated. Other related issues are also discussed, including higher-order resonance effects, the robustness of the predicted dynamical behaviors, extension to many-body kicked tops, and relevance to experimental studies.

We study synchronization of two cardiomyocytes mediated by elastic interactions through the substrate. Modeling each cell as an oscillating force dipole governed by a Rayleigh-type equation, we derive an effective mechanical coupling from the elastic response of the surrounding medium. Using phase reduction theory, supported by direct numerical simulations, we obtain a dynamical phase description for two cardiomyocytes that predicts geometry-dependent selection of synchronized states. Depending on the mutual orientation, the cells robustly converge to either in-phase or anti-phase beating, yielding an orientation-dependent state map with a nontrivial state boundary. The synchronization time also depends strongly on the distance and mutual orientation of the cells. These results bridge earlier energetic two-body theory and dynamical single-cell theory, and provide a dynamical framework for elastic synchronization of cardiomyocytes.

This study examines the impact of additive and multiplicative noise on both a single leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron and a trained spiking neural network (SNN). Noise was introduced at different stages of neural processing, including the input current, membrane potential, and output spike generation. The results show that multiplicative noise applied to the membrane potential has the most detrimental effect on network performance, leading to a significant degradation in accuracy. This is primarily due to its tendency to suppress membrane potentials toward large negative values, effectively silencing neuronal activity. To address this issue, input pre-filtering strategies were evaluated, with a sigmoid-based filter demonstrating the best performance by shifting inputs to a strictly positive range. Under these conditions, additive noise in the input current becomes the dominant source of performance degradation, while other noise configurations reduce accuracy by no more than 1\%, even at high noise intensity. Additionally, the study compares the effects of common and uncommon noise across neuron populations in hidden layer, revealing that SNNs exhibit greater robustness to common noise. Overall, the findings identify the most critical noise mechanisms affecting SNNs and provide practical approaches for improving their robustness.

The coexistence of step bunching and step meandering remains contradictory in the understanding of the unstable step-flow growth. Considered separately, the two instabilities have generated rich but largely independent modeling traditions. Especially, the one-dimensional framework faces a fundamental difficulty once bunching and meandering occur simultaneously -- step bunching is usually associated with an inverted Ehrlich--Schwoebel effect, whereas step meandering is associated with a direct one. The key experiments also focus mainly on the two basic limiting cases. How, then, can both instabilities coexist within the same growth process once the simultaneous occurrence of bunching and meandering cannot be adequately captured as a simple superposition of the two? In this work, we confront results from two substantially different approaches: a (2+1)D Vicinal Cellular Automaton based model (VicCA) and a differential-difference PDE-based description combining a model of step bunching with a relaxation term in the perpendicular direction. The continuous framework enables to explore long-time scales evolution to find large variety of surface patterns. Introducing a proper shape of the potential energy landscape in the VicCA model produces similar patterns and links both models on the level of parameters.

Semiclassical methods have been applied very successfully to describe the nontrivial transition from the quantum to the classical regime in $\textit{single}$-particle or at least $\textit{few}$-particle systems. Challenges on the way to an extension to $\textit{many}$-body systems result from the exponential proliferation of the number of classical orbits in chaotic systems and the exponential growth of the quantum Hilbert-space dimension with the particle number. To circumvent these problems, we apply here our recently developed duality relation. Considering the kicked spin chain as example for a many-body system, we show how the duality relation can be used to extract the classical orbits from the quantum spectrum. For coupled cat maps, we analyze the spectral statistics of chaotic many-body systems and discuss the double limit of large semiclassical parameter and large particle number.

The idea of a $\bigvee$-system was introduced by Veselov in the study of rational solutions of the WDVV equations of associativity. These are algebraic/geometric conditions on the set of covectors that appear in rational solutions to the WDVV equations. Here, this idea is generalized to open WDVV equations, which are an additional set of PDEs originating from open Gromow-Witten Theory. We develop -- for rank-one extensions -- algebraic/geometric conditions on the covectors that supplement the $\bigvee$-system to give rational solutions to the open WDVV equations. Examples, and the relation to superpotentials and to Dubrovin almost-duality, are given.

It is well known that for any wave function $\psi(x,z)$ of the KP hierarchy, there is another wave function called its ''adjoint'' such that the path integral of their product with respect to $z$ around any sufficiently large closed path is zero. For the wave functions in the adelic Grassmannian ${\rm Gr}^{\rm ad}$, the bispectral involution which exchanges the role of $x$ and $z$ also implies the existence of an ''$x$-adjoint wave function'' $\psi^{\star}(x,z)$ so that the product of the wave function, the $x$-adjoint, and the Hermite weight ${\rm e}^{-x^2/2}$ has no residue. Utilizing this, we show that the sequences of coefficient functions in the power series expansion of any KP wave function in ${\rm Gr}^{\rm ad}$ and its image under the bispectral involution at $t_2=-\frac{1}{2}$ are always ''almost bi-orthogonal'' with respect to the Hermite product. Whether the sequences have the stronger properties of being (almost) orthogonal can easily be determined in terms of KP flows and the bispectral involution. As a special case, the exceptional Hermite orthogonal polynomials can be recovered in this way. This provides both a generalization of and an explanation of the fact that the generating functions of the exceptional Hermites are certain special wave functions of the KP hierarchy. In addition, one new surprise is that the same KP wave function which generates the sequences of functions is also a generating function for the norms when evaluated at $t_1=1$ and $t_2=0$. The main results are proved using Calogero-Moser matrices satisfying a rank one condition. The same results also apply in the case of ''spin-generalized'' Calogero-Moser matrices, which produce instances of matrix orthogonality.

The macroscopic dynamics of topological defects in magnetic materials are traditionally modeled using pairwise interactions. However, higher-order quantum exchange mechanisms - such as biquadratic and 4-spin ring exchange-play a critical role in strongly correlated systems. In this work, we introduce the "Simplicial Bridge," an exact analytical framework that maps these high-dimensional, non-linear Landau-Lifshitz partial differential equations onto generalized Kuramoto phase-oscillator networks operating on abstract simplicial complexes. We rigorously demonstrate that spatial overlap in the continuous limit natively generates higher-order topological forces without requiring a supportive discrete atomic lattice. Specifically, the overlap of 1D helimagnetic kinks generates 2-simplices (triadic forces), while the spatial compression of 2D skyrmion tails - governed by modified Bessel function asymptotics - generates true 3-simplices (tetradic forces). Furthermore, we establish that the higher-order spatial derivatives inherent to these multi-spin interactions provide an intrinsic energetic barrier that bypasses Derrick's Theorem, stabilizing 2D topological solitons without the strict need for Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction (DMI).

Neutrino billiards serve as a model system for the study of aspects of relativistic quantum chaos. These are relativistic quantum billiards consisting of a spin-1/2 particle which is confined to a planar domain by imposing boundary conditions on the spinor components which were proposed in [Berry and Mondragon 1987, {\it Proc. R. Soc.} A {\bf 412} 53) . We review their general features and the properties of neutrino billiards with shapes of billiards with integrable dynamics. Furthermore, we review the features of two neutrino billiards with the shapes of billiards generating a chaotic dynamics, whose nonrelativistic counterpart exhibits particular properties. Finally we briefly discuss possible experimental realizations of relativistic quantium billiards based on graphene billiards, that is, finite size sheets of graphene.

Cancer cell populations often exhibit remarkably similar growth laws despite their heterogeneity. Explanations of universal cell population growth remain partly unresolved to this day. Here, we present a growth-law unification by investigating the connection between microscopic assumptions and the expected contact inhibition, which leads to five classical tumor growth laws: exponential, radial growth, fractal growth, generalized logistic, and Gompertzian growth. All five can be seen as manifestations of a single microscopic model. Agent-based simulations substantiate our theory, and we can explain differences in growth curves in experimental data from em in vitro cancer cell population growth. Thus, our framework offers a possible explanation for many mean-field laws used to empirically capture seemingly unrelated cancer or microbial growth dynamics. Our results highlight that the interplay between contact inhibition and other assumptions (e.g., well-mixed) can influence our quantitative understanding of how cancer cells grow and, in turn, how they may interact.

In a previous paper, we proposed a unique physically implemented type simulator for combinatorial optimization problems, called the spontaneous symmetry breaking machine (SSBM). In this paper, we first report the results of experimental verification of SSBM using a small-scale benchmark system, and then describe numerical simulations using the benchmark problems (K2000) conducted to confirm its usefulness for large-scale problems. From 1000 samples with different initial fluctuations, it became clear that SSBM can explore a single extremely stable state. This is based on the principle of a phenomenon used in SSBM, and could be a notable advantage over other simulators.

Local decoders provide a promising approach to real-time quantum error-correction by replacing centralized classical decoding, with significant hardware constraints, by a fully distributed architecture based on a simple, local update rule. We propose a new local decoder for Kitaev's toric code: the 2D signal-rule, that interprets odd parity stabilizer measurements as defects, attracted to each other via the exchange of binary signals. We present numerical evidence of exponential suppression of the logical error rate with system size below a threshold, under a phenomenological noise model with data and measurement errors at each iteration. The construction achieves a significantly improved threshold and optimal finite-size scaling relative to hierarchical schemes. It also provides a lightweight alternative to windowed local decoder constructions while maintaining strong performance, thus enabling a streamlined architecture for a two-dimensional local quantum memory.