Contact process with sublattice symmetry breaking.

Area of Science:

• Statistical Physics
• Complex Systems Modeling
• Phase Transitions

Background:

• Contact processes are fundamental models in statistical physics for studying spreading phenomena.
• Understanding phase transitions in interacting particle systems is crucial for diverse scientific fields.
• Bipartite lattices and neighbor interactions introduce complex dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate a novel contact process with specific creation and inhibition rules.
• To identify and characterize the distinct phases predicted by mean-field theory.
• To verify theoretical predictions using computational simulations and determine universality classes.

Main Methods:

• Mean-field theory was employed to predict the system's phases and transitions.
• Monte Carlo simulations in two dimensions were conducted to observe system behavior.
• Analysis of sublattice densities and transition types (continuous/discontinuous) was performed.

Main Results:

• Mean-field theory predicted three phases: inactive, active symmetric, and active asymmetric.
• Simulations qualitatively confirmed these phases and a re-entrant phase diagram.
• The symmetric-asymmetric transition belongs to the Ising universality class.
• The active-absorbing transition belongs to the directed percolation class.

Conclusions:

• The studied contact process exhibits rich phase behavior, including re-entrant characteristics.
• Numerical simulations validate theoretical predictions for most parameter ranges.
• The identified universality classes align with theoretical expectations based on system symmetries.