The nonequilibrium evolution near the phase boundary

TL;DR

This study investigates the nonequilibrium dynamics of the 3D Ising model near its phase boundary, revealing that relaxation times are significantly longer and more variable near the first-order transition line compared to the critical point.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the relaxation behavior and variability of the Ising model near phase boundaries, especially highlighting the self-diverging nature of relaxation times near the first-order transition.

Findings

RT near 1st-PTL is significantly larger than near CP

RT near 1st-PTL is non-self-averaging and self-diverging

Metastable states increase randomness and hinder equilibrium

Abstract

Using the single-spin flipping dynamics, we study the nonequilibrium evolution near the entire phase boundary of the 3D Ising model, and find that the average of relaxation time (RT) near the first-order phase transition line (1st-PTL) is significantly larger than that near the critical point (CP). As the system size increases, the average of RT near the 1st-PTL increases at a higher power compared to that near the CP. We further show that RT near the 1st-PTL is not only non-self-averaging, but actually self-diverging: relative variance of RT increases with system size. The presence of coexisting and metastable states results in a substantial increase in randomness near the 1st-PTL, and therefore makes the equilibrium more difficult to achieve.