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Spontaneous ordering against an external field in nonequilibrium systems

J. C. González-Avella, M.G. Cosenza, V.M. Eguíluz and M. San Miguel
New Journal of Physics 12, 013010 (2010)

We study the collective behavior of non-equilibrium systems subjected to an external field with a dynamics characterized by the existence of non-interacting states. Aiming at exploring the generality of the results, we consider two types of model according to the nature of their state variables: (i) a vector model, where interactions are proportional to the overlap between the states, and (ii) a scalar model, where interactions depend on the distance between states. The phase space is numerically characterized for each model in a fully connected network and in random and scale-free networks. For both models, the system displays three phases: two ordered phases, one parallel to the field and another orthogonal to the field, and one disordered phase. By placing the particles on a small-world network, we show that an ordered phase in a state different from the one imposed by the field is possible because of the long-range interactions that exist in fully connected, random and scale-free networks. This phase does not exist in a regular lattice and emerges when long-range interactions are included in a small-world network.