On the universal Gaussian behavior of Driven Lattice Gases at short-times

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that driven lattice gases exhibit Gaussian, non-interacting behavior in their short-time dynamics after a critical quench, regardless of whether they are in equilibrium or driven out of equilibrium.

Contribution

It reveals a super-universal Gaussian behavior in the short-time regime of driven lattice gases, contrasting with their long-term universality classes.

Findings

Short-time dynamics match Gaussian effective theory

Equilibrium and nonequilibrium models show similar initial behavior

Long-term states follow known universality classes

Abstract

The dynamic and static critical behaviors of driven and equilibrium lattice gas models are studied in two spatial dimensions. We show that in the short-time regime immediately following a critical quench, the dynamics of the transverse order parameters, auto-correlations, and Binder cumulant are consistent with the prediction of a Gaussian, $i.e.,$ non-interacting, effective theory, both for the equilibrium lattice gas and its nonequilibrium counterparts. Such a "super-universal" behavior is observed only at short times after a critical quench, while the various models display their distinct behaviors in the stationary states, described by the corresponding, known universality classes.