Nucleation pathways on complex networks

Abstract

Identifying nucleation pathway is important for understanding the kinetics of first-order phase transitions in natural systems. In the present work, we study nucleation pathway of the Ising model in homogeneous and heterogeneous networks using the forward flux sampling method, and find that the nucleation processes represent distinct features along pathways for different network topologies. For homogeneous networks, there always exists a dominant nucleating cluster to which relatively small clusters are attached gradually to form the critical nucleus. For heterogeneous ones, many small isolated nucleating clusters emerge at the early stage of the nucleation process, until suddenly they form the critical nucleus through a sharp merging process. By analyzing the properties of the nucleating clusters along the pathway, we show that the main reason behind the different routes is the heterogeneous character of the underlying networks.

11 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Paths to Synchronization on Complex Networks
• Computing stationary distributions in equilibrium and non-equilibrium systems with Forward Flux Sampling
• Homogeneous nucleation under shear in a two-dimensional Ising model: cluster growth, coalescence and breakup
• Traveling and pinned fronts in bistable reaction-diffusion systems on network

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Studying Rare Events using Forward-Flux Sampling: Recent Breakthroughs and Future Outlook
• Metastability of the Ising model on random regular graphs at zero temperature
• Heterogeneous nucleation on complex networks with mobile impurities