No Arabic abstract
It is explained how field-theoretic methods and the dynamic renormalisation group (RG) can be applied to study the universal scaling properties of systems that either undergo a continuous phase transition or display generic scale invariance, both near and far from thermal equilibrium. Part 1 introduces the response functional field theory representation of (nonlinear) Langevin equations. The RG is employed to compute the scaling exponents for several universality classes governing the critical dynamics near second-order phase transitions in equilibrium. The effects of reversible mode-coupling terms, quenching from random initial conditions to the critical point, and violating the detailed balance constraints are briefly discussed. It is shown how the same formalism can be applied to nonequilibrium systems such as driven diffusive lattice gases. Part 2 describes how the master equation for stochastic particle reaction processes can be mapped onto a field theory action. The RG is then used to analyse simple diffusion-limited annihilation reactions as well as generic continuous transitions from active to inactive, absorbing states, which are characterised by the power laws of (critical) directed percolation. Certain other important universality classes are mentioned, and some open issues are listed.
We study a model of self propelled particles exhibiting run and tumble dynamics on lattice. This non-Brownian diffusion is characterised by a random walk with a finite persistence length between changes of direction, and is inspired by the motion of bacteria such as E. coli. By defining a class of models with multiple species of particle and transmutation between species we can recreate such dynamics. These models admit exact analytical results whilst also forming a counterpart to previous continuum models of run and tumble dynamics. We solve the externally driven non-interacting and zero-rang
We numerically simulate the time evolution of the Ising field theory after quenches starting from the $E_8$ integrable model using the Truncated Conformal Space Approach. The results are compared with two different analytic predictions based on form factor expansions in the pre-quench and post-quench basis, respectively. Our results clarify the domain of validity of these expansions and suggest directions for further improvement. We show for quenches in the $E_8$ model that the initial state is not of the integrable pair state form. We also construct quench overlap functions and show that their high-energy asymptotics are markedly different from those constructed before in the sinh/sine-Gordon theory, and argue that this is related to properties of the ultraviolet fixed point.
We investigate the impact of noise on a two-dimensional simple paradigmatic piecewise-smooth dynamical system. For that purpose we consider the motion of a particle subjected to dry friction and coloured noise. The finite correlation time of the noise provides an additional dimension in phase space, a nontrivial probability current, and thus establishes a proper nonequilibrium regime. Furthermore, the finite noise correlation time allows for the study of stick-slip phenomena which show up as a singular component in the stationary probability density. Analytic insight can be provided by application of the unified coloured noise approximation, developed by Jung and Hanggi (Phys. Rev. A 35, 4464 (R) (1987)). The analysis of probability currents and a closer look at power spectral densities underpin the observed stick-slip transitions which are related with a critical value of the noise correlation time.
The persistence exponent theta for the global order parameter, M(t), of a system quenched from the disordered phase to its critical point describes the probability, p(t) sim t^{-theta}, that M(t) does not change sign in the time interval t following the quench. We calculate theta to O(epsilon^2) for model A of critical dynamics (and to order epsilon for model C) and show that at this order M(t) is a non-Markov process. Consequently, theta is a new exponent. The calculation is performed by expanding around a Markov process, using a simplified version of the perturbation theory recently introduced by Majumdar and Sire [Phys. Rev. Lett. _77_, 1420 (1996); cond-mat/9604151].
This paper presents an introduction to phase transitions and critical phenomena on the one hand, and nonequilibrium patterns on the other, using the Ginzburg-Landau theory as a unified language. In the first part, mean-field theory is presented, for both statics and dynamics, and its validity tested self-consistently. As is well known, the mean-field approximation breaks down below four spatial dimensions, where it can be replaced by a scaling phenomenology. The Ginzburg-Landau formalism can then be used to justify the phenomenological theory using the renormalization group, which elucidates the physical and mathematical mechanism for universality. In the second part of the paper it is shown how near pattern forming linear instabilities of dynamical systems, a formally similar Ginzburg-Landau theory can be derived for nonequilibrium macroscopic phenomena. The real and complex Ginzburg-Landau equations thus obtained yield nontrivial solutions of the original dynamical system, valid near the linear instability. Examples of such solutions are plane waves, defects such as dislocations or spirals, and states of temporal or spatiotemporal (extensive) chaos.