Related papers: Second-Order Catalytic Quasispecies Yields First-O…

If there is a first-order phase transition in the light quark region of 2+1-flavor finite temperature and density QCD and if the region of the first-order phase transition expands with increasing density as suggested by several studies,…

Using large-scale numerical simulations we studied the kinetics of the 2d q-Potts model for q > 4 after a shallow subcritical quench from a high-temperature homogeneous configuration. This protocol drives the system across a first-order…

We present the first example of a phase transition in a nonequilibrium steady-state that can be argued analytically to be first order. The system of interest is a two-species reaction-diffusion problem whose control parameter is the total…

We study a class of multi-species birth-and-death processes going almost surely to extinction and admitting a unique quasi-stationary distribution (qsd for short). When rescaled by $K$ and in the limit $K\to+\infty$, the realizations of…

Ecosystems often undergo abrupt regime shifts in response to gradual external changes. These shifts are theoretically understood as a regime switch between alternative stable states of the ecosystem dynamical response to smooth changes in…

First order phase transitions in finite systems can be defined through the bimodality of the distribution of the order parameter. This definition is equivalent to the one based on the inverted curvature of the thermodynamic potential.…

Biological systems are modular, and this modularity evolves over time and in different environments. A number of observations have been made of increased modularity in biological systems under increased environmental pressure. We here…

We have studied the phase transition of the contact process near a multiple junction of $M$ semi-infinite chains by Monte Carlo simulations. As opposed to the continuous transitions of the translationally invariant ($M=2$) and semi-infinite…

We study a multi-type Ehrenfest process modeled as a finite quasi-birth-death (QBD) process. We assume that the transitions are allowed only to the two adjacent levels of the same phase and are characterized by linear rates. The crucial…

Motivated by recent findings, we discuss the existence of a direct and robust mechanism providing discontinuous absorbing transitions in short range systems with single species, with no extra symmetries or conservation laws. We consider…

Using the renormalization group approach, we consider the $O(N)\otimes O(M)$ model in four and more dimensions. We find that independently on $N$ and $M$, for $N\geq M\geq 2$, a transition can be of both the first and second order. In…

If the electroweak sector of the standard model is described by classically conformal dynamics, the early Universe evolution can be substantially altered. It is already known that---contrarily to the standard model case---a first order…

This paper develops a quasispecies model that incorporates the SOS response. We consider a unicellular, asexually replicating population of organisms, whose genomes consist of a single, double-stranded DNA molecule, i.e. one chromosome. We…

Two dimensional Potts model is a classical example where the symmetry of the order parameter controls the order of a phase transition: on a square lattice with nearest-neighbours interaction, when the number of states $q$ is less than or…

This paper is concerned with the evolution of haploid organisms that reproduce asexually. In a seminal piece of work, Eigen and coauthors proposed the quasispecies model in an attempt to understand such an evolutionary process. Their work…

We consider an off-lattice liquid crystal pair potential in strictly two dimensions. The potential is purely repulsive and short-ranged. Nevertheless, by means of a single parameter in the potential, the system is shown to undergo a…

The dipole-coupled two-level atoms(qubits) in a single-mode resonant cavity is studied by extended bosonic coherent states. The numerically exact solution is presented. For finite systems, the first-order quantum phase transitions occur at…

Life uses non-equilibrium mechanisms to create ordered structures not attainable at equilibrium; the resulting order is assumed to provide functional benefits that outweigh costs of time and energy needed by these mechanisms. Here, we show…

Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study thermal and critical properties of two systems, in which domain walls and so-called $Z_2$-vortices as topological defects are presented. The main model is a lattice version of the $O(3)$ principal…

There are some particular one-dimensional models, such as the Ising-Heisenberg spin models with a variety of chain structures, which exhibit unexpected behaviors quite similar to the first and second order phase transition, which could be…