Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions

Abstract

Nonequilibrium phase transitions are discussed with emphasis on general features such as the role of detailed balance violation in generating effective (long-range) interactions, the importance of dynamical anisotropies, the connection between various mechanisms generating power-law correlations, and the emergence of universal distribution functions for macroscopic quantities. Quantum spin chains are also discussed in order to demonstrate how to construct steady-states carrying fluxes in quantum systems, and to explain how the fluxes may generate power-law correlations.