Finite-size scaling in the steady state of the fully asymmetric exclusion process

One-dimensional irreversible aggregation with dynamics of a totally asymmetric simple exclusion process

We define and study one-dimensional model of irreversible aggregation of particles obeying a discrete-time kinetics, which is a special limit of the generalized Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process (gTASEP) on open chains. The model allows for clusters of particles to translate as a whole entity one site to the right with the same probability as single particles do. A particle and a cluster, as well as two clusters, irreversibly aggregate whenever they become nearest neighbors. Nonequilibrium stationary phases appear under the balance of injection and ejection of particles. By extensive Monte Carlo simulations it is established that the phase diagram in the plane of the injection-ejection probabilities consists of three stationary phases: a multiparticle (MP) one, a completely filled (CF) phase, and a "mixed" (MP+CF) one. The transitions between these phases are: an unusual transition between MP and CF with jump discontinuity in both the bulk density and the current, a conventional first-order transition with a jump in the bulk density between MP and MP+CF, and a continuous clustering-type transition from MP to CF, which takes place throughout the MP+CF phase between them. By the data collapse method a finite-size scaling function for the current and bulk density is obtained near the unusual phase transition line. A diverging correlation length, associated with that transition, is identified and interpreted as the size of the largest cluster. The model allows for a future extension to account for possible cluster fragmentation.

Finite-size scaling and universality for the totally asymmetric simple-exclusion process

The applicability of the concepts of finite-size scaling and universality to nonequilibrium phase transitions is considered in the framework of the one-dimensional totally asymmetric simple-exclusion process with open boundaries. In the thermodynamic limit there are boundary-induced transitions both of the first and second order between steady-state phases of the model. We derive finite-size scaling expressions for the current near the continuous phase transition and for the local density near the first-order transition under different stochastic dynamics and compare them to establish the existence of universal functions. Next we study numerically the finite-size behavior of the Lee-Yang zeros of the normalization factor for the different steady-state probabilities.