Nonequilibrium Phase Transition in a Model of Diffusion, Aggregation and Fragmentation

We study the nonequilibrium phase transition in a model of aggregation of masses allowing for diffusion, aggregation on contact and fragmentation. The model undergoes a dynamical phase transition in all dimensions. The steady state mass distribution decays exponentially for large mass in one phase. On the contrary, in the other phase it has a power law tail and in addition an infinite aggregate. The model is solved exactly within a mean field approximation which keeps track of the distribution of masses. In one dimension, by mapping to an equivalent lattice gas model, exact steady states are obtained in two extreme limits of the parameter space. Critical exponents and the phase diagram are obtained numerically in one dimension. We also study the time dependent fluctuations in an equivalent interface model in (1+1) dimension and compute the roughness exponent $\chi$ and the dynamical exponent z analytically in some limits and numerically otherwise. Two new fixed points of interface fluctuations in (1+1) dimension are identified. We also generalize our model to include arbitrary fragmentation kernels and solve the steady states exactly for some special choices of these kernels via mappings to other solvable models of statistical mechanics.Comment: revtex file with 7 figure

Finite-size effects on the dynamics of the zero-range process

We study finite-size effects on the dynamics of a one-dimensional zero-range process which shows a phase transition from a low-density disordered phase to a high-density condensed phase. The current fluctuations in the steady state show striking differences in the two phases. In the disordered phase, the variance of the integrated current shows damped oscillations in time due to the motion of fluctuations around the ring as a dissipating kinematic wave. In the condensed phase, this wave cannot propagate through the condensate, and the dynamics is dominated by the long-time relocation of the condensate from site to site.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, version published in Phys. Rev. E Rapid Communication

Conservation Laws and Integrability of a One-dimensional Model of Diffusing Dimers

We study a model of assisted diffusion of hard-core particles on a line. The model shows strongly ergodicity breaking : configuration space breaks up into an exponentially large number of disconnected sectors. We determine this sector-decomposion exactly. Within each sector the model is reducible to the simple exclusion process, and is thus equivalent to the Heisenberg model and is fully integrable. We discuss additional symmetries of the equivalent quantum Hamiltonian which relate observables in different sectors. In some sectors, the long-time decay of correlation functions is qualitatively different from that of the simple exclusion process. These decays in different sectors are deduced from an exact mapping to a model of the diffusion of hard-core random walkers with conserved spins, and are also verified numerically. We also discuss some implications of the existence of an infinity of conservation laws for a hydrodynamic description.Comment: 39 pages, with 5 eps figures, to appear in J. Stat. Phys. (March 1997

Passive Sliders on Fluctuating Surfaces: Strong-Clustering States

We study the clustering properties of particles sliding downwards on a fluctuating surface evolving through the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation, a problem equivalent to passive scalars driven by a Burgers fluid. Monte Carlo simulations on a discrete version of the problem in one dimension reveal that particles cluster very strongly: the two point density correlation function scales with the system size with a scaling function which diverges at small argument. Analytic results are obtained for the Sinai problem of random walkers in a quenched random landscape. This equilibrium system too has a singular scaling function which agrees remarkably with that for advected particles.Comment: To be published in Physical Review Letter

Dynamics of Shock Probes in Driven Diffusive Systems

We study the dynamics of shock-tracking probe particles in driven diffusive systems and also in equilibrium systems. In a driven system, they induce a diverging timescale that marks the crossover between a passive scalar regime at early times and a diffusive regime at late times; a scaling form characterises this crossover. Introduction of probes into an equilibrium system gives rise to a system-wide density gradient, and the presence of even a single probe can be felt across the entire system.Comment: Accepted in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experimen

Steady State and Dynamics of Driven Diffusive Systems with Quenched Disorder

We study the effect of quenched disorder on nonequilibrium systems of interacting particles, specifically, driven diffusive lattice gases with spatially disordered jump rates. The exact steady-state measure is found for a class of models evolving by drop-push dynamics, allowing several physical quantities to be calculated. Dynamical correlations are studied numerically in one dimension. We conjecture that the relevance of quenched disorder depends crucially upon the speed of the kinematic waves in the system. Time-dependent correlation functions, which monitor the dissipation of kinematic waves, behave as in pure system if the wave speed is non-zero. When the wave speed vanishes, e.g. for the disordered exclusion process close to half filling, disorder is strongly relevant and induces separation of phases with different macroscopic densities. In this case the exponent characterizing the dynamical correlation function changes.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 4 eps figures included using 'psfig.sty

Strong clustering of non-interacting, passive sliders driven by a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang surface

We study the clustering of passive, non-interacting particles moving under the influence of a fluctuating field and random noise, in one dimension. The fluctuating field in our case is provided by a surface governed by the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation and the sliding particles follow the local surface slope. As the KPZ equation can be mapped to the noisy Burgers equation, the problem translates to that of passive scalars in a Burgers fluid. We study the case of particles moving in the same direction as the surface, equivalent to advection in fluid language. Monte-Carlo simulations on a discrete lattice model reveal extreme clustering of the passive particles. The resulting Strong Clustering State is defined using the scaling properties of the two point density-density correlation function. Our simulations show that the state is robust against changing the ratio of update speeds of the surface and particles. In the equilibrium limit of a stationary surface and finite noise, one obtains the Sinai model for random walkers on a random landscape. In this limit, we obtain analytic results which allow closed form expressions to be found for the quantities of interest. Surprisingly, these results for the equilibrium problem show good agreement with the results in the non-equilibrium regime.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Driven Lattice Gases with Quenched Disorder: Exact Results and Different Macroscopic Regimes

We study the effect of quenched spatial disorder on the steady states of driven systems of interacting particles. Two sorts of models are studied: disordered drop-push processes and their generalizations, and the disordered asymmetric simple exclusion process. We write down the exact steady-state measure, and consequently a number of physical quantities explicitly, for the drop-push dynamics in any dimensions for arbitrary disorder. We find that three qualitatively different regimes of behaviour are possible in 1-$d$ disordered driven systems. In the Vanishing-Current regime, the steady-state current approaches zero in the thermodynamic limit. A system with a non-zero current can either be in the Homogeneous regime, chracterized by a single macroscopic density, or the Segregated-Density regime, with macroscopic regions of different densities. We comment on certain important constraints to be taken care of in any field theory of disordered systems.Comment: RevTex, 17pages, 18 figures included using psfig.st