Quasi-stationary simulation: the subcritical contact process

TL;DR

This paper applies a novel quasi-stationary simulation method to analyze the subcritical contact process, providing precise estimates of critical exponents despite the challenge of absorption in this phase.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of the quasi-stationary simulation method in analyzing subcritical phases where traditional methods fail.

Findings

Accurate estimate of the critical exponent nu_|| with 0.5% precision

Successful application of the method to the contact process in the subcritical phase

Overcomes the challenge of absorption in subcritical simulations

Abstract

We apply the recently devised quasi-stationary simulation method to study the lifetime and order parameter of the contact process in the subcritical phase. This phase is not accessible to other methods because virtually all realizations of the process fall into the absorbing state before the quasi-stationary regime is attained. With relatively modest simulations, the method yields an estimate of the critical exponent nu_|| with a precision of 0.5%.