Critical dynamics of classical systems under slow quench

Abstract

We study the slow quench dynamics of a one-dimensional nonequilibrium lattice gas model which exhibits a phase transition in the stationary state between a fluid phase with homogeneously distributed particles and a jammed phase with a macroscopic hole cluster. Our main result is that in the critical region ({\it i.e.}, at the critical point and in its vicinity) where the dynamics are assumed to be frozen in the standard Kibble-Zurek argument, the defect density exhibits an algebraic decay in the inverse annealing rate with an exponent that can be understood using critical coarsening dynamics. However, in a part of the critical region in the fluid phase, the standard Kibble-Zurek scaling holds. We also find that when the slow quench occurs deep into the jammed phase, the defect density behavior is explained by the rapid quench dynamics in this phase.