Criticality of tuning in athermal phase transitions

TL;DR

This paper experimentally investigates the role of tuning in athermal phase transitions, revealing a critical instability through higher order fluctuation analysis, with implications for various slowly driven non-equilibrium systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental approach to detect criticality in athermal phase transitions using higher order statistics of fluctuations.

Findings

Detection of a singular critical instability

Universal self-similar kinetics observed

Significance for avalanche dynamics in non-equilibrium systems

Abstract

We experimentally address the importance of tuning in athermal phase transitions, which are triggered only by a slowly varying external field acting as tuning parameter. Using higher order statistics of fluctuations, a singular critical instability is detected for the first time in spite of an apparent universal self-similar kinetics over a broad range of driving force. The results as well as the experimental technique are likely to be of significance to many slowly driven non-equilibrium systems from geophysics to material science which display avalanche dynamics.