The double domain structure of pair contact process with diffusion

TL;DR

This paper studies the domain structure of the pair contact process with diffusion (PCPD), revealing a double domain structure and slow convergence to asymptotic scaling due to bidirectional coupling.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of a double domain structure in PCPD and quantifies the different dynamic exponents for coupled and uncoupled regions.

Findings

Identifies two distinct regions: coupled (pairs and solitary particles) and uncoupled (solitary particles only).

Estimates dynamic exponents Zp=1.61 and ZU=1.768 for the two regions.

Shows that slow decay of the ratio Q complicates the identification of asymptotic scaling.

Abstract

We investigate the domain structure of pair contact process with diffusion (PCPD). PCPD is a stochastic reaction-diffusion model which evolves by the competition of two binary reactions, $2A \to 3A$ and $2A \to 0$. In addition, each particle diffuses isotropically, which leads to the bidirectional coupling between solitary particles and pairs. The coupling from pairs to solitary particles is linear, while the opposite coupling is quadratic. The spreading domain formed from localized activities in vacuum consists of two regions, the coupled region of size $R_p$ where pairs and solitary particles coexist and the uncoupled region of size $R_U$ where only solitary particles exist respectively. As the size of the whole domain $R$ is given as $R=R_p + R_U$, $R_p$ and $R_U$ are the basic length scales of PCPD. At criticality, $R_p$ and $R_U$ scale as $R_p \sim t^{1/Z_p}$ and $R_U \sim t^{1/Z_U}$ with $Z_U > Z_p$. We estimate $Z_p =1.61(1)$ and $Z_U =1.768(8)$. Hence, the correction to the scaling of $R$, $Q=R_U /R_p$ extremely slowly decays, which makes it practically impossible to identify the asymptotic scaling behavior of $R$. In addition to the generic feature of the bidirectional coupling, the double domain structure is another reason for the extremely slow approach to the asymptotic scaling regime of PCPD.