Freezing by Heating in a Driven Mesoscopic System

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel 'freezing by heating' transition in a driven mesoscopic particle system, where increased fluctuations paradoxically induce a more ordered, crystallized state.

Contribution

The study presents a continuum model of driven particles that exhibits a new transition where higher energy states emerge from increased fluctuations.

Findings

Identification of 'freezing by heating' transition.

Crystallized state with higher energy from increased fluctuations.

Model as a continuum analogue of driven diffusive systems.

Abstract

We investigate a simple model corresponding to particles driven in opposite directions and interacting via a repulsive potential. The particles move off-lattice on a periodic strip and are subject to random forces as well. We show that this model - which can be considered as a continuum version of some driven diffusive systems - exhibits a paradoxial, new kind of transition called here ``freezing by heating''. One interesting feature of this transition is that a crystallized state with a higher total energy is obtained from a fluid state by increasing the amount of fluctuations.