Non-equilibrium critical behavior of O(n)-symmetric systems: Effect of reversible mode-coupling terms and dynamical anisotropy

TL;DR

This paper investigates the critical behavior of O(n)-symmetric systems out of equilibrium with reversible mode couplings and anisotropic noise, revealing stability of equilibrium fixed points and identifying new universality classes under extreme noise conditions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of non-equilibrium critical phenomena in O(n) models with anisotropic noise, including stability of equilibrium fixed points and discovery of new universality classes.

Findings

Equilibrium fixed point remains stable under non-equilibrium perturbations.

Novel critical behavior appears only in extreme noise temperature limits.

Effective long-range forces induce new universality classes in certain models.

Abstract

Phase transitions in non-equilibrium steady states of O(n)-symmetric models with reversible mode couplings are studied using dynamic field theory and the renormalization group. The systems are driven out of equilibrium by dynamical anisotropy in the noise for the conserved quantities, i.e., by constraining their diffusive dynamics to be at different temperatures T^\par and T^\perp in d_\par- and d_\perp-dimensional subspaces, respectively. In the case of the Sasv'ari-Schwabl-Sz'epfalusy (SSS) model for planar ferro- and isotropic antiferromagnets, we assume a dynamical anisotropy in the noise for the non-critical conserved quantities that are dynamically coupled to the non-conserved order parameter. We find the equilibrium fixed point (with isotropic noise) to be stable with respect to these non-equilibrium perturbations, and the familiar equilibrium exponents therefore describe the asymptotic static and dynamic critical behavior. Novel critical features are only found in extreme limits, where the ratio of the effective noise temperatures T^\par/T^\perp is either zero or infinite. On the other hand, for model J for isotropic ferromagnets with a conserved order parameter, the dynamical noise anisotropy induces effective long-range elastic forces, which lead to a softening only of the d_\perp-dimensional sector in wavevector space with lower noise temperature T^\perp < T^\par. The ensuing static and dynamic critical behavior is described by power laws of a hitherto unidentified universality class, which, however, is not accessible by perturbational means for d_\par \geq 1. We obtain formal expressions for the novel critical exponents in a double expansion about the static and dynamic upper critical dimensions and d_\par, i.e., about the equilibrium theory.