Transverse Fluctuations in the Driven Lattice Gas

TL;DR

This paper introduces a transverse correlation length for out-of-equilibrium lattice gases, verifies its properties through simulations, and demonstrates that transverse fluctuations are Gaussian, supporting a specific field-theoretical model.

Contribution

It defines a new transverse correlation length for out-of-equilibrium systems and confirms Gaussian transverse fluctuations via finite-size scaling analysis.

Findings

Transverse correlation length has a well-defined infinite-volume limit.

Transverse fluctuations are Gaussian as predicted by the theoretical model.

Finite-size scaling analysis confirms the theoretical description.

Abstract

We define a transverse correlation length suitable to discuss the finite-size-scaling behavior of an out-of-equilibrium lattice gas, whose correlation functions decay algebraically with the distance. By numerical simulations we verify that this definition has a good infinite-volume limit independent of the lattice geometry. We study the transverse fluctuations as they can select the correct field-theoretical description. By means of a careful finite-size scaling analysis, without tunable parameters, we show that they are Gaussian, in agreement with the predictions of the model proposed by Janssen, Schmittmann, Leung, and Cardy.