ISSN:
1572-9613
Keywords:
reaction–diffusion
;
nonequilibrium steady state
;
first-order transition
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Abstract We present the first example of a phase transition in a nonequilibrium steady state that can be argued analytically to be first order. The system of interest is a two-species reaction-diffusion problem whose control parameter is the total density ρ. Mean-field theory predicts a second-order transition between two stationary states at a critical density ρ=ρ c. We develop a phenomenological picture that instead predicts a first-order transition below the upper critical dimension d c=4. This picture is confirmed by hysteresis found in numerical simulations, and by the study of a renormalization-group improved equation of state. The latter approach is inspired by the Coleman–Weinberg mechanism in QED.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1018697024371
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