title: Minimal current phase and universal boundary layers in driven diffusive systems.
abstract: We investigate boundary-driven phase transitions in open driven diffusive systems. The generic phase diagram for systems with short-ranged interactions is governed by a simple extremal principle for the macroscopic current, which results from an interplay of density fluctuations with the motion of shocks. In systems with more than one extremum in the current-density relation, one finds a minimal current phase even though the boundaries support a higher current. The boundary layers of the critical minimal current and maximal current phases are argued to be of a universal form. The predictions of the theory are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations of the two-parameter family of stochastic particle hopping models of Katz, Lebowitz, and Spohn and by analytical results for a related cellular automaton with deterministic bulk dynamics. The effect of disorder in the particle jump rates on the boundary layer profile is also discussed.
authors: Institut für Theoretische Physik, RWTH-Aachen, 52056 Aachen, Germany.
authors: J S
authors: JS
authors: Hager
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Krug
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Popkov
authors: G M
authors: GM
authors: Schütz