Exchange of stability as a function of system size in a nonequilibrium system

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2012 Oct;86(4 Pt 1):040103. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.86.040103. Epub 2012 Oct 10.

Abstract

In equilibrium systems with short-ranged interactions, the relative stability of different thermodynamic states generally does not depend on system size (as long as this size is larger than the interaction range). Here, we use a large deviations approach to show that, in contrast, different states can exchange stability as system size is varied in a driven, bistable reaction-diffusion system. This striking effect is related to a shift from a spatially uniform to a nonuniform transition state and should generically be possible in a wide range of nonequilibrium physical and biological systems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Biophysics / methods*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Diffusion
  • Models, Statistical
  • Systems Theory*
  • Thermodynamics