Nonequilibrium phase transition in stochastic lattice gases: Simulation of a three-dimensional system

Abstract

We report results of computer simulations of a three-dimensional lattice gas of interacting particles subject to a uniform external fieldE. The dynamics of the system is given by hoppings of particles to nearby empty sites with rates biased for jumps in the direction ofE. As for the two-dimensional system we find that here too there exists a critical temperature,T _c (E) such that forT < T _c (E) the systems orders in a very anisotropic phase with striplike typical configurations parallel to the field.T _c (E) increases withE but substantially less strongly than in two dimensions. There is a break in the slope of the saturation current atT _c (E). Our data are consistent with the critical exponentβ being mean field.