Transverse temperature interfaces in the Katz-Lebowitz-Spohn driven lattice gas.

Area of Science:

• Statistical Mechanics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Non-equilibrium Systems

Background:

• The Katz-Lebowitz-Spohn (KLS) model describes particle systems with driven dynamics and interactions.
• Understanding spatial patterns in inhomogeneous systems is crucial for statistical mechanics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate spatial patterns and particle transport in a 2D KLS model with temperature gradients.
• To analyze the impact of attractive nearest-neighbor interactions on system behavior.

Main Methods:

• Simulating a 2D KLS driven lattice gas with two distinct temperature regions (T > Tc and T = Tc).
• Analyzing particle density accumulation and steady-state current.
• Comparing results with (totally) asymmetric exclusion processes (TASEP) models.

Main Results:

• Particle blockage occurs at the interface between hot (T > Tc) and critical (T = Tc) regions.
• Steady-state current in the hot region decays as 1/T, influenced by the cooler region.
• Density profiles resemble coexistence and maximal-current phases of TASEP, with notable fluctuation corrections at Tc.

Conclusions:

• The cooler region impedes transport in the hotter region, setting the global particle current.
• Extended particle clusters in the critical region induce blockage.
• Fluctuation corrections to mean-field profiles are significant at the critical temperature.