| Literature DB >> 27584596 |
Álvaro Corral1,2, Rosalba Garcia-Millan3,4, Francesc Font-Clos5.
Abstract
The theory of finite-size scaling explains how the singular behavior of thermodynamic quantities in the critical point of a phase transition emerges when the size of the system becomes infinite. Usually, this theory is presented in a phenomenological way. Here, we exactly demonstrate the existence of a finite-size scaling law for the Galton-Watson branching processes when the number of offsprings of each individual follows either a geometric distribution or a generalized geometric distribution. We also derive the corrections to scaling and the limits of validity of the finite-size scaling law away the critical point. A mapping between branching processes and random walks allows us to establish that these results also hold for the latter case, for which the order parameter turns out to be the probability of hitting a distant boundary.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2016 PMID: 27584596 PMCID: PMC5008730 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161586
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
Fig 1(a) Comparison of the exact probability of survival, ρ(L), given by Eq (17), with the approximations given by the scaling law Eq (22) and by the scaling law with the first correction to scaling, Eq (40), for different m and L. (b) The same taking the y–axis logarithmic. (c) The same data, taking the ratio between the approximation given by the scaling law [], Eq (22), and the exact value of ρ(L). Larger values of L are included in this case. The program used to draw the figure is provided as S1 File.
Fig 2Same as Fig 1a, but replacing the order parameter ρ(L) by ρ(L)/[1 − ρ(L)].
The exact behavior is given by Eq (41), and the scaling law with the first correction to scaling is given by Eq (45). It becomes clear how the performance of the finite-size scaling law is even better than for ρ(L), in particular for m > 1. The program used to draw the figure is provided as S1 File.