Cooperative Behavior in Driven Lattice Systems with Shifted Periodic Boundary Conditions

• Main Author: Anderson, Mark Jule Jr.
• Other Authors: Physics
• Format: Others
• Published: Virginia Tech 2014
• Subjects: Monte-Carlo Simulations; Lattice Gas; Non-equilibrium steady states
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30606; http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-5598-11241/

We explore the nature of driven stochastic lattice systems with non-periodic boundary conditions. The systems consist of particle and holes which move by exchanges of nearest neighbor particle-hole pairs. These exchanges are controlled by the energetics associated with an internal Hamiltonian, an external drive and a stochastic coupling to a heat reservoir. The effect of the drive is to bias particle-hole exchanges along the field in such a way that a particle current can be established. Hard-core volume constraints limit the occupation of only one particle (hole) per lattice site. For certain regimes of the overall particle density and temperature, a system displays a homogeneous disordered phase. We investigate cooperative behavior in this phase by using two-point spatial correlation functions and structure factors. By varying the particle density and the temperature, the system orders into a phase separated state, consisting of particle-rich and particle-poor regions. The temperature and density for the co-existence state depend on the boundary conditions. By using Monte Carlo simulations, we establish co-existence curves for systems with shifted periodic boundary conditions. === Ph. D.