Control of Metastable States by Heat Flux in the Hamiltonian Potts Model

The local equilibrium thermodynamics is a basic assumption of macroscopic descriptions of the out of equilibrium dynamics for Hamiltonian systems. We numerically analyze the Hamiltonian Potts model in two dimensions to study the violation of the assumption for phase coexistence in heat conduction. We observe that the temperature of the interface between ordered and disordered states deviates from the equilibrium transition temperature, indicating that metastable states at equilibrium are stabilized by the influence of a heat flux. We also find that the deviation is described by the formula proposed in an extended framework of the thermodynamics.

Automated summary

The violation of the assumption of local equilibrium thermodynamics for phase coexistence in heat conduction is numerically analyzed using the Hamiltonian Potts model in two dimensions. It is observed that the temperature of the interface between ordered and disordered states deviates from the equilibrium transition temperature, indicating the stabilization of metastable states by the influence of a heat flux. Furthermore, it is found that the deviation can be described by a formula proposed in an extended framework of thermodynamics.