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Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in Epidemics and Sandpiles

Ronald Dickman
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Abstract

Nonequilibrium phase transitions between an active and an absorbing state are found in models of populations, epidemics, autocatalysis, and chemical reactions on a surface. While absorbing-state phase transitions fall generically in the DP universality class, this does not preclude other universality classes, associated with a symmetry or conservation law. An interesting issue concerns the dynamic critical behavior of models with an infinite number of absorbing configurations or a long memory. Sandpile models, the principal example of self-organized criticality (SOC), also exhibit absorbing- state phase transitions, with SOC corresponding to a particular mode of forcing the system toward its critical point.

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Ronald Dickman. 2001-10-01. Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in Epidemics and Sandpiles. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-4371(02)00488-0

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