Domain Walls in Non-Equilibrium Systems
and the Emergence
of Persistent Patterns
Aric Hagberg 1,
and Ehud Meron 2
1 Program in Applied Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
2 Department of Mathematics and ACMS, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
Published in Physical Review E, Volume 48, Number 2, August 1993
Domain walls in equilibrium phase transitions propagate
in a preferred direction so as to minimize the free energy of the system.
As a result, initial spatio-temporal patterns ultimately decay toward
uniform states. The absence of a variational principle far from equilibrium
allows the coexistence of domain walls propagating in any direction.
As a consequence, {\it persistent} patterns may emerge.
We study this mechanism of pattern formation using a non-variational extension
of Landau's model for second order phase transitions.
PACS numbers: 05.70.Fh, 42.65.Pc, 47.20.Ky, 82.20Mj
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Aric Hagberg <aric@lanl.gov>
Last modified: Wed Dec 17 11:17:22 MST 1997
