NONEQUILIBRIUM STEADY-STATES AND PHASE-TRANSITIONS IN DRIVEN DIFFUSIVE SYSTEMS

We present general analytical solutions of a driven diffusive lattice gas obtained by means of a kinetic cluster-variation approach and other techniques and discuss in detail the method which can be applied to a large class of kinetic systems. In particular, we consider explicitly one- and two-dimensional versions of the model, providing more general results than have been derived previously. Our study reveals relaxation to a rich variety of steady nonequilibrium states, including states which are segregated anisotropically under the action of the external driving force; such states occur, for instance, in the so-called super-ionicconductor systems under the presence of an external electric field. We also make comparisons with related models and with recent Monte Carlo data. © 1990.