title: Hysteresis in one-dimensional reaction-diffusion systems.
abstract: We introduce a simple nonequilibrium model for a driven diffusive system with nonconservative reaction kinetics in one dimension. The steady state exhibits a phase with broken ergodicity and hysteresis which has no analog in systems investigated previously. We identify the main dynamical mode, viz., the random motion of a shock in an effective potential, which provides a unified framework for understanding phase coexistence as well as ergodicity breaking. This picture also leads to the exact phase diagram of the system.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rákos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paessens
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Schütz