Abstract

DICKMAN, Adriana G.; DICKMAN, Ronald  and  BARBOSA, Fabrício Almeida. Phase transitions without thermodynamics. Rev. Bras. Ensino Fís. [online]. 2006, vol.28, n.1, pp. 23-33. ISSN 1806-1117.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1806-11172006000100004.

Phase transitions find application well beyond the context of equilibrium thermodynamics, where they arose. We review one of the prime examples of a phase transition in a system lacking thermodynamics, the contact process (PC), emphasizing mean-field theory methods. We also present mean-field results for a model of transmission of malaria in a population, and discuss the new approaches of quasi-stationary distributions, and the conserved contact process.

Keywords : phase transitions; contact process; mean-field approximation; malaria.