Long Range Correlations and Phase Transitions in Non-equilibrium Diffusive Systems

We obtain explicit expressions for the long range correlations in the ABC model and in diffusive models conditioned to produce an atypical current of particles. In both cases, the two-point correlation functions allow one to detect the occurrence of a phase transition as they become singular when the system approaches the transition.     

The Wulff Construction in Three and More Dimensions

In this paper we prove the Wulff construction in three and more dimensions for an Ising model with nearest neighbor interaction. Received: 5 January 1999 / Accepted: 27 April 1999     

Vortices in the Two-Dimensional Simple Exclusion Process

We show that the fluctuations of the partial current in two dimensional diffusive systems are dominated by vortices leading to a different scaling from the one predicted by the hydrodynamic large deviation theory. This is supported by exact computations of the variance of partial current fluctuations for the symmetric simple exclusion process on general graphs. On a two-dimensional torus, our exact expressions are compared to the results of numerical simulations. They confirm the logarithmic dependence on the system size of the fluctuations of the partial flux. The impact of the vortices on the validity of the fluctuation relation for partial currents is also discussed in an Appendix.     

Translation invariant Gibbs states for the Ising model

We prove that all the translation invariant Gibbs states of the Ising model are a linear combination of the pure phases for any . This implies that the average magnetization is continuous for . Furthermore, combined with previous results on the slab percolation threshold [B2] this shows the validity of Pisztora's coarse graining [Pi] up to the critical temperature. We would like to thank C. Pfister and Y. Velenik for very useful comments.     

Current fluctuations in nonequilibrium diffusive systems: an additivity principle

We formulate a simple additivity principle allowing one to calculate the whole distribution of current fluctuations through a large one dimensional system in contact with two reservoirs at unequal densities from the knowledge of its first two cumulants. This distribution (which in general is non-Gaussian) satisfies the Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry and generalizes the one predicted recently for the symmetric simple exclusion process. The additivity principle can be used to study more complex diffusive networks including loops.     

Some New Results on the Kinetic Ising Model in a Pure Phase

We consider a general class of Glauber dynamics reversible with respect to the standard Ising model in ^d with zero external field and inverse temperature strictly larger than the critical value _c in dimension 2 or the so called slab threshold in dimension d 3. We first prove that the inverse spectral gap in a large cube of side N with plus boundary conditions is, apart from logarithmic corrections, larger than N in d = 2 while the logarithmic Sobolev constant is instead larger than N ² in any dimension. Such a result substantially improves over all the previous existing bounds and agrees with a similar computations obtained in the framework of a one dimensional toy model based on mean curvature motion. The proof, based on a suggestion made by H. T. Yau some years ago, explicitly constructs a subtle test function which forces a large droplet of the minus phase inside the plus phase. The relevant bounds for general d 2 are then obtained via a careful use of the recent –approach to the Wulff construction. Finally we prove that in d = 2 the probability that two independent initial configurations, distributed according to the infinite volume plus phase and evolving under any coupling, agree at the origin at time t is bounded from below by a stretched exponential , again apart from logarithmic corrections. Such a result should be considered as a first step toward a rigorous proof that, as conjectured by Fisher and Huse some years ago, the equilibrium time auto-correlation of the spin at the origin decays as a stretched exponential in d = 2.     

On the Localization Transition of Random Copolymers Near Selective Interfaces

In this note we consider the (de)localization transition for random directed (1+1)–dimensional copolymers in the proximity of an interface separating selective solvents. We derive a rigorous lower bound on the free energy. This yields a substantial improvement on the bounds from below on the critical line that were known so far. Our result implies that the critical curve does not lie below the critical curve set forth by Monthus (Eur. Phys. J. B 13, 111–130, 2000) on the base of a renormalization group analysis. We discuss this result in the light of the (rigorous and non rigorous) approaches present in the literature and, by making an analogy with a particular asymptotics of a disordered wetting model, we propose a simplified framework in which the question of identifying the critical curve, as well as understanding the nature of the transition, may be approached.     

Metastability in the dilute Ising model

Consider Glauber dynamics for the Ising model on the hypercubic lattice with a positive magnetic field. Starting from the minus configuration, the system initially settles into a metastable state with negative magnetization. Slowly the system relaxes to a stable state with positive magnetization. Schonmann and Shlosman showed that in the two dimensional case the relaxation time is a simple function of the energy required to create a critical Wulff droplet. The dilute Ising model is obtained from the regular Ising model by deleting a fraction of the edges of the underlying graph. In this paper we show that even an arbitrarily small dilution can dramatically reduce the relaxation time. This is because of a catalytic effect—rare regions of high dilution speed up the transition from minus phase to plus phase.