Non-Analytic Non-Equilibrium Field Theory: Stochastic Reheating of the Ising Model

Many-body non-equilibrium steady states can be described by a Landau-Ginzburg theory if one allows non-analytic terms in the potential. We substantiate this claim by working out the case of the Ising magnet in contact with a thermal bath and undergoing stochastic reheating: It is reset to a paramagnet at random times. By a combination of stochastic field theory and Monte Carlo simulations, we unveil how the usual $varphi^4$ potential is deformed by non-analytic operators of intrinsic non-equilibrium nature. We demonstrate their infrared relevance at low temperatures by a renormalization-group analysis of the non-equilibrium steady state. The equilibrium ferromagnetic fixed point is thus destabilized by stochastic reheating, and we identify the new non-equilibrium fixed point.