A simple stochastic model for the dynamics of condensation

We consider the dynamics of a model introduced recently by Bialas, Burda and Johnston. At equilibrium the model exhibits a transition between a fluid and a condensed phase. For long evolution times the dynamics of condensation possesses a scaling regime that we study by analytical and numerical means. We determine the scaling form of the occupation number probabilities. The behaviour of the two-time correlations of the energy demonstrates that aging takes place in the condensed phase, while it does not in the fluid phase.Comment: 8 pages, plain tex, 2 figure

Structure of the stationary state of the asymmetric target process

We introduce a novel migration process, the target process. This process is dual to the zero-range process (ZRP) in the sense that, while for the ZRP the rate of transfer of a particle only depends on the occupation of the departure site, it only depends on the occupation of the arrival site for the target process. More precisely, duality associates to a given ZRP a unique target process, and vice-versa. If the dynamics is symmetric, i.e., in the absence of a bias, both processes have the same stationary-state product measure. In this work we focus our interest on the situation where the latter measure exhibits a continuous condensation transition at some finite critical density $\rho_c$, irrespective of the dimensionality. The novelty comes from the case of asymmetric dynamics, where the target process has a nontrivial fluctuating stationary state, whose characteristics depend on the dimensionality. In one dimension, the system remains homogeneous at any finite density. An alternating scenario however prevails in the high-density regime: typical configurations consist of long alternating sequences of highly occupied and less occupied sites. The local density of the latter is equal to $\rho_c$ and their occupation distribution is critical. In dimension two and above, the asymmetric target process exhibits a phase transition at a threshold density $\rho_0$ much larger than $\rho_c$. The system is homogeneous at any density below $\rho_0$, whereas for higher densities it exhibits an extended condensate elongated along the direction of the mean current, on top of a critical background with density $\rho_c$.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figure

Nonequilibrium phase transition in a non integrable zero-range process

The present work is an endeavour to determine analytically features of the stationary measure of a non-integrable zero-range process, and to investigate the possible existence of phase transitions for such a nonequilibrium model. The rates defining the model do not satisfy the constraints necessary for the stationary measure to be a product measure. Even in the absence of a drive, detailed balance with respect to this measure is violated. Analytical and numerical investigations on the complete graph demonstrate the existence of a first-order phase transition between a fluid phase and a condensed phase, where a single site has macroscopic occupation. The transition is sudden from an imbalanced fluid where both species have densities larger than the critical density, to a critical neutral fluid and an imbalanced condensate

Dynamics of the condensate in zero-range processes

For stochastic processes leading to condensation, the condensate, once it is formed, performs an ergodic stationary-state motion over the system. We analyse this motion, and especially its characteristic time, for zero-range processes. The characteristic time is found to grow with the system size much faster than the diffusive timescale, but not exponentially fast. This holds both in the mean-field geometry and on finite-dimensional lattices. In the generic situation where the critical mass distribution follows a power law, the characteristic time grows as a power of the system size.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures. Minor changes and updates performe

Nonequilibrium dynamics of urn models

Dynamical urn models, such as the Ehrenfest model, have played an important role in the early days of statistical mechanics. Dynamical many-urn models generalize the former models in two respects: the number of urns is macroscopic, and thermal effects are included. These many-urn models are exactly solvable in the mean-field geometry. They allow analytical investigations of the characteristic features of nonequilibrium dynamics referred to as aging, including the scaling of correlation and response functions in the two-time plane and the violation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. This review paper contains a general presentation of these models, as well as a more detailed description of two dynamical urn models, the backgammon model and the zeta urn model.Comment: 15 pages. Contribution to the Proceedings of the ESF SPHINX meeting `Glassy behaviour of kinetically constrained models' (Barcelona, March 22-25, 2001). To appear in a special issue of J. Phys. Cond. Mat

Condensation phenomena with distinguishable particles

We study real-space condensation phenomena in a type of classical stochastic processes (site-particle system), such as zero-range processes and urn models. We here study a stochastic process in the Ehrenfest class, i.e., particles in a site are distinguishable. In terms of the statistical mechanical analogue, the Ehrenfest class obeys the Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics. We analytically clarify conditions for condensation phenomena in disordered cases in the Ehrenfest class. In addition, we discuss the preferential urn model as an example of the disordered urn model. It becomes clear that the quenched disorder property plays an important role in the occurrence of the condensation phenomenon in the preferential urn model. It is revealed that the preferential urn model shows three types of condensation depending on the disorder parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

From urn models to zero-range processes: statics and dynamics

The aim of these lecture notes is a description of the statics and dynamics of zero-range processes and related models. After revisiting some conceptual aspects of the subject, emphasis is then put on the study of the class of zero-range processes for which a condensation transition arises.Comment: Lecture notes for the Luxembourg Summer School 200

Logarithmic corrections in the aging of the fully-frustrated Ising model

We study the dynamics of the critical two-dimensional fully-frustrated Ising model by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The dynamical exponent is estimated at equilibrium and is shown to be compatible with the value $z_c=2$. In a second step, the system is prepared in the paramagnetic phase and then quenched at its critical temperature $T_c=0$. Numerical evidences for the existence of logarithmic corrections in the aging regime are presented. These corrections may be related to the topological defects observed in other fully-frustrated models. The autocorrelation exponent is estimated to be $\lambda=d$ as for the Ising chain quenched at $T_c=0$.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Condensation and coexistence in a two-species driven model

Condensation transition in two-species driven systems in a ring geometry is studied in the case where current-density relation of a domain of particles exhibits two degenerate maxima. It is found that the two maximal current phases coexist both in the fluctuating domains of the fluid and in the condensate, when it exists. This has a profound effect on the steady state properties of the model. In particular, phase separation becomes more favorable, as compared with the case of a single maximum in the current-density relation. Moreover, a selection mechanism imposes equal currents flowing out of the condensate, resulting in a neutral fluid even when the total number of particles of the two species are not equal. In this case the particle imbalance shows up only in the condensate

Scaling of the magnetic linear response in phase-ordering kinetics

The scaling of the thermoremanent magnetization and of the dissipative part of the non-equilibrium magnetic susceptibility is analysed as a function of the waiting-time $s$ for a simple ferromagnet undergoing phase-ordering kinetics after a quench into the ferromagnetically ordered phase. Their scaling forms describe the cross-over between two power-law regimes governed by the non-equilibrium exponents $a$ and $\lambda_R/z$, respectively. A relation between $a$, the dynamical exponent $z$ and the equilibrium exponent $\eta$ is derived from scaling arguments. Explicit tests in the Glauber-Ising model and the kinetic spherical model are presented.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures included, needs epl.cls, version to appear in Europhys. Let