Spontaneous Jamming in One-Dimensional Systems

TL;DR

This paper investigates how jamming occurs in one-dimensional driven diffusive systems, revealing a phase transition mechanism influenced by non-conserved quantities, with implications for real-world phenomena like bus clustering and pipe clogging.

Contribution

Introduces a microscopic model demonstrating jamming mediated by non-conserved quantities, showing phase transition behavior and crossover phenomena in driven systems.

Findings

Jamming occurs via a strict phase transition with spontaneous symmetry breaking in a specific limit.

Outside the limit, the transition exhibits an essential singularity with sharp crossovers.

The model is relevant to physical phenomena such as bus clustering and suspension clogging.

Abstract

We study the phenomenon of jamming in driven diffusive systems. We introduce a simple microscopic model in which jamming of a conserved driven species is mediated by the presence of a non-conserved quantity, causing an effective long range interaction of the driven species. We study the model analytically and numerically, providing strong evidence that jamming occurs; however, this proceeds via a strict phase transition (with spontaneous symmetry breaking) only in a prescribed limit. Outside this limit, the nearby transition (characterised by an essential singularity) induces sharp crossovers and transient coarsening phenomena. We discuss the relevance of the model to two physical situations: the clustering of buses, and the clogging of a suspension forced along a pipe.