2011/01/28 by J. Hooyberghs, Jef Hooyberghs, Joseph O. Indekeu +1
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Physical and Chemical Molecular Interactions #Statistical Mechanics and Entropy #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1140/epjb/e2011-20085-2
12 pages, 12 figures
arxiv created 2011/01/28 · openalex publication_date 2011/05/01 · arxiv updated 2015/05/27 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Nonequilibrium wetting transitions are observed in Monte Carlo simulations of a kinetic spin system in the absence of a detailed balance condition with respect to an energy functional. A nonthermal model is proposed starting from a two-dimensional Ising spin lattice at zero temperature with two boundaries subject to opposing surface fields. Local spin excitations are only allowed by absorbing an energy quantum (photon) below a cutoff energy Ec. Local spin relaxation takes place by emitting a photon which leaves the lattice. Using Monte Carlo simulation nonequilibrium critical wetting transitions are observed as well as nonequilibrium first-order wetting phenomena, respectively in the absence or presence of absorbing states of the spin system. The transitions are identified from the behavior of the probability distribution of a suitably chosen order parameter that was proven useful for studying wetting in the (thermal) Ising model.