Boundary-induced nonequilibrium phase transition into an absorbing state

TL;DR

This paper shows that in a one-dimensional diffusing particle model, a boundary site can induce a nonequilibrium phase transition from an active to an absorbing state, revealing new boundary-driven critical phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a novel boundary-driven mechanism for inducing nonequilibrium phase transitions in one-dimensional systems, supported by numerical and approximation analyses.

Findings

Phase transition from active to absorbing state controlled by boundary dynamics

Universal properties characterized through simulations and approximations

Boundary effects can induce critical behavior in low-dimensional systems

Abstract

We demonstrate that absorbing phase transitions in one dimension may be induced by the dynamics of a single site. As an example we consider a one-dimensional model of diffusing particles, where a single site at the boundary evolves according to the dynamics of a contact process. As the rate for offspring production at this site is varied, the model exhibits a phase transition from a fluctuating active phase into an absorbing state. The universal properties of the transition are analyzed by numerical simulations and approximation techniques.