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Virginia Tech

Scaling of Steady States in a Simple Driven Three-State Lattice Gas

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Phase segregated states in a simple three-state stochastic lattice gas are investigated. A two dimensional finite lattice with periodic boundary conditions is filled with one hole and two oppositely "charged" species of particles, subject to an excluded volume constraint. Starting from a completely disordered initial configuration, a sufficiently large external "electric" field <I>E</I> induces the phase segregation, by separating the charges into two strips and "trapping" the hole at an interface between them. Focusing on the steady state, the scaling properties of an appropriate order parameter, depending on drive and system size, are investigated by mean-field theory and Monte Carlo methods. Density profiles of the two interfaces in the ordered system are studied with the help of Monte Carlo simulations and are found to scale in the field-dependent variable, Ε = 2 tanh <I>E</I> /2), for <I>E</I> ≲ 0.8. For larger values of <I>E</I>, independent approximations of the interfacial profiles, obtained within the framework of mean-field theory, exhibit significant deviations from the Monte Carlo data. Interestingly, the deviations can be reduced significantly by a slight modification of the mean-field theory.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Physics
Department dc:contributor.department
Physics
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
1998

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Thies, Michael
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Schmittmann, Beate
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Zia, Royce K. P.
  • Heflin, James R.

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-81198-19472
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36977

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
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citation

Thies, Michael. Scaling of Steady States in a Simple Driven Three-State Lattice Gas. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36977