Noise-induced dynamical transition in systems with symmetric absorbing states

TL;DR

This paper studies how increasing noise affects the large-scale ordering in systems with symmetric absorbing states, revealing a phase transition from Ising-like to voter-like behavior driven by noise-induced changes in local state dynamics.

Contribution

It provides the first explicit stochastic microscopic model demonstrating a noise-induced phase transition in the coarsening dynamics of symmetric absorbing state systems.

Findings

Identifies a phase transition from Ising-like to voter-like behavior with increasing noise

Shows high noise leads to locally-absorbing states that hinder surface tension-driven ordering

Maps the transition to a thermal diffusion process to explain the mechanism

Abstract

We investigate the effect of noise strength on the macroscopic ordering dynamics of systems with symmetric absorbing states. Using an explicit stochastic microscopic model, we present evidence for a phase transition in the coarsening dynamics, from an Ising-like to a voter-like behavior, as the noise strength is increased past a nontrivial critical value. By mapping to a thermal diffusion process, we argue that the transition arises due to locally-absorbing states being entered more readily in the high-noise regime, which in turn prevents surface tension from driving the ordering process.