Phase transitions induced by thermal fluctuations

The present study generalizes the model of extended stochastic systems with a field-dependent kinetic coefficient [M. Ibanes, J. Garcia-Ojalvo, R. Toral, J.M. Sancho, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 020601 (2001)] to systems with symmetric and asymmetric bistable potentials. It is found that in systems with a relaxational flow and a symmetric local potential, reentrant phase transitions can be observed. In the case of an asymmetric local potential, a hysteresis-like behaviour in the order parameter appears. It is shown that such phase transitions can be controlled by the constant that governs relaxation flow, noise intensity and spatial coupling intensity.