Fluctuation-dominated Phase Ordering

TL;DR

This paper reviews fluctuation-dominated phase ordering, a steady state characterized by strong fluctuations affecting long-range order, with implications for correlation functions and clustering phenomena across various physical systems.

Contribution

It synthesizes understanding of fluctuation-dominated order in nonequilibrium and equilibrium systems, highlighting phenomena like cusp singularities and clustering effects.

Findings

Identification of cusp singularity in correlation functions

Occurrence of fluctuation-dominated order in diverse systems

Clustering effects are stronger in certain models

Abstract

Fluctuation-dominated phase ordering refers to a steady state in which the magnitude of long-range order varies strongly owing to fluctuations, and to the associated coarsening phenomena during the approach to steady state. Strong fluctuations can lead to a number of interesting phenomena, including a cusp singularity in the scaled correlation function, implying the breakdown of the Porod Law. First identified in a nonequilibrium system of passively sliding particles on a fluctuating surface, fluctuation-dominated order also occurs in several other systems, including an equilibrium Ising model with long-range interactions. This article discusses these systems, and others where clustering effects are stronger.