Emergence of disconnected clusters in heterogeneous complex systems

This paper challenges the traditional understanding of correlated regions in complex systems as densely connected clusters, proposing that highly correlated sites can be inherently disconnected. Using the disordered contact process (DCP) as a model, the authors demonstrate through numerical simulations and a strong disorder renormalization group (SDRG) technique that critical dynamics are governed by one highly correlated but spatially disconnected cluster. This counter-intuitive finding suggests functional similarity doesn't necessitate physical connectivity, extending to quantum systems such as the disordered quantum Ising model.

István A. Kovács, Róbert Juhász