CRITICAL PHENOMENA IN NONEQUILIBRIUM PHASE-TRANSITIONS

We discuss a number of models associated with phase transitions in purely kinetic models where detailed balance does not hold as in thermal equilibrium systems. These models include some of the features of heterogeneous catalysis on a surface, and are used to examine the effect of local correlations on the reaction process. We argue that many models which do not include desorption will show the same kind of critical behavior if they have a continuous transition to a poisoned state. We also present results for a model with a continuous transition to a non-poisoned state. The effect of adding desorption, diffusion, and anisotropy to these idealized models is also discussed. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.