Domain growth in a one-dimensional diffusive lattice gas with short-range attraction.

Abstract

A one-dimensional diffusive lattice gas with an attractive interaction between particles a distance r apart is introduced which violates detailed balance. For interactions of sufficient strength and range, there exists a density regime within which a state of uniform density is not a stable, equilibrium solution. Via computer simulation, we studied the time evolution of a system initially prepared in such an unstable, uniform state. Domains of high and low density were observed to form and these subsequently grew. The typical length of a domain at time t, R(t), was inferred to asymptotically obey the growth law R(t)\ensuremath{\sim}${\mathit{t}}^{1/3}$, the same result as found in phase-ordering dynamics for higher-dimensional systems with a conserved, scalar order parameter. The structure factor and density-density correlation function were found to scale with R(t), but the forms of the scaling functions were density dependent.