Universality in dynamical phase transitions of diffusive systems

Abstract

Universality, where microscopic details become irrelevant, takes place in thermodynamic phase transitions. The universality is captured by a singular scaling function of the thermodynamic variables, where the scaling exponents are determined by symmetries and dimensionality only. Universality can persist even for non-equilibrium phase transitions. It implies that a hydrodynamic approach can capture the singular universal scaling function, even far from equilibrium. In particular, we show these results for phase transitions in the large deviation function of the current in diffusive systems with particle-hole symmetry. For such systems, we find the scaling exponents of the universal function and show they are independent of microscopic details as well as boundary conditions.