Metastability and Avalanches in a Nonequilibrium Ferromagnetic System

We present preliminary results on the metastable behavior of a nonequilibrium ferromagnetic system. The metastable state mean lifetime is a non-monotonous function of temperature; it shows a maximum at certain non-zero temperature which depends on the strengh of the nonequilibrium perturbation. This is in contrast with the equilibrium case in which lifetime increases monotonously as the temperature is decreasesed. We also report on avalanches during the decay from the metastable state. Assuming both free boundaries and nonequilibrium impurities, the avalanches exhibit power-law size and lifetime distributions. Such scale free behavior is very sensible. The chances are that our observations may be observable in real (i.e. impure) ferromagnetic nanoparticles.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to be published in 2002 Granada Seminar Proceeding

Test of the Additivity Principle for Current Fluctuations in a Model of Heat Conduction

The additivity principle allows to compute the current distribution in many one-dimensional (1D) nonequilibrium systems. Using simulations, we confirm this conjecture in the 1D Kipnis-Marchioro-Presutti model of heat conduction for a wide current interval. The current distribution shows both Gaussian and non-Gaussian regimes, and obeys the Gallavotti-Cohen fluctuation theorem. We verify the existence of a well-defined temperature profile associated to a given current fluctuation. This profile is independent of the sign of the current, and this symmetry extends to higher-order profiles and spatial correlations. We also show that finite-time joint fluctuations of the current and the profile are described by the additivity functional. These results suggest the additivity hypothesis as a general and powerful tool to compute current distributions in many nonequilibrium systems.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure