Two-point correlation function of an exclusion process with hole-dependent rates

TL;DR

This paper derives exact formulas for the correlation functions in a ring exclusion process with hole-dependent rates, revealing phase transitions and critical behavior with algebraic decay and diverging correlation lengths.

Contribution

It provides an exact analytical solution for the correlation functions in a generalized exclusion process with hole-dependent rates, including phase transition analysis.

Findings

Exact formulas for correlation functions in the model

Identification of phase transition at specific parameters

Critical exponents for correlation length divergence

Abstract

We consider an exclusion process on a ring in which a particle hops to an empty neighbouring site with a rate that depends on the number of vacancies $n$ in front of it. In the steady state, using the well known mapping of this model to the zero range process, we write down an exact formula for the partition function and the particle-particle correlation function in the canonical ensemble. In the thermodynamic limit, we find a simple analytical expression for the generating function of the correlation function. This result is applied to the hop rate $u(n)=1+(b/n)$ for which a phase transition between high-density laminar phase and low-density jammed phase occurs for $b > 2$. For these rates, we find that at the critical density, the correlation function decays algebraically with a continuously varying exponent $b-2$. We also calculate the two-point correlation function above the critical density, and find that the correlation length diverges with a critical exponent $\nu=1/(b-2)$ for $b < 3$ and $1$ for $b > 3$. These results are compared with those obtained using an exact series expansion for finite systems.