We are pleased to announce that Dario Corradini assumed the position of Chief Editor at PRE, effective April 29, 2024.

APS congratulates Andrea Marcello Mambuca, Chiara Cammarota, and Izaak Neri as the recipients of the 2024 Irwin Oppenheim Award for best paper by early career scientists published in Physical Review E.

A model for coordinated motion of cilia is examined in this work. In this model, wave dynamics of cilia are represented by motions of microspheres elastically bound to circular orbits that are inclined with respect to a no-slip surface. Parameters are explored with analytical studies and simulations. The authors demonstrate traveling waves whose dynamics and direction may be tuned by the elasticity.

Cell adhesion proteins bind the cell membrane to its environment and, at the same time, aggregate into stable clusters. In this paper, the proteins’ sensing of the cell membrane curvature is investigated as a mechanism to stabilize these clusters, predicting the emergence of diverse spatial patterns.

When injected into a plasma, a proton bunch triggers oscillatory phenomena which can lead to different instability regimes. The authors present experimental evidence of the appearance of the oblique two-stream instability, generating filamentation in the bunch-plasma system, in accordance with theoretical and numerical predictions.

A particle-beam-generating method—called wakefield acceleration—uses proton bunches, which can fragment into high-density filaments as a result of their interactions with plasma, new experiments show.

Synopsis on:
L. Verra et al. (AWAKE Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. E 109, 055203 (2024)

In stochastic thermodynamics, entropy production can be estimated for physical systems with a Markovian description. For realistic situations the full Markovian description may not be accessible, and this paper uses an information-theoretic bound to establish an effective approach for such a scenario.

The spatial arrangement of plants in a rainforest corresponds to a special “critical” state that could be vital for ecosystem robustness.  

Focus story on:
Pablo Villegas, Tommaso Gili, Guido Caldarelli, and Andrea Gabrielli
Phys. Rev. E 109, L042402 (2024)

APS has selected 156 Outstanding Referees for 2024 who have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts published in the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online.

Solar potential scaling and the urban road network topology
Sara Najem
Phys. Rev. E 95, 012323 (2017)

Emergent self-similarity and scaling properties of fractal intra-urban heat islets for diverse global cities
Anamika Shreevastava, P. Suresh C. Rao, and Gavan S. McGrath
Phys. Rev. E 100, 032142 (2019)

Stability of traffic breakup patterns in urban networks
Marco Cogoni and Giovanni Busonera
Phys. Rev. E 104, L012301 (2021)

Superlinear urban scaling by functional organization: A metabolic interpretation of sectoral water consumption
Likwan Cheng
Phys. Rev. E 107, 034301 (2023)

Evolution of road infrastructure in large urban areas
Erwan Taillanter and Marc Barthelemy
Phys. Rev. E 107, 034304 (2023)

The winning entries of the Second Gallery of Soft Matter are highlighted in this PRE Guest Editorial. We hope they will spark the imagination of researchers and the public alike.

We welcome Valerio Lucarini (University of Reading, UK), who joins the editorial staff of Physical Review E. As Associate Editor, he will be handling manuscripts in the section on Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos.

After almost 25 years Antonio Politi has stepped down as Associate Editor for Physical Review E. Antonio has handled papers in the section on Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos since it was created in 1998. We are very grateful for Antonio’s contributions as an editor and for his many years of dedication to the journal. We will miss his presence at our meetings, his expert advice, his thoughtfulness and deep insights.

Three journals are excited to announce a new article type, “Perspectives,” to provide forward-looking views of cutting-edge science that has recently emerged or is enjoying renewed activity.