Configurations and observables in an Ising model with heat flow

We study a two dimensional Ising model between thermostats at different temperatures. By applying the recently introduced KQ dynamics, we show that the system reaches a steady state with coexisting phases transversal to the heat flow. The relevance of such complex states on thermodynamic or geometrical observables is investigated. In particular, we study energy, magnetization and metric properties of interfaces and clusters which, in principle, are sensitive to local features of configurations. With respect to equilibrium states, the presence of the heat flow amplifies the fluctuations of both thermodynamic and geometrical observables in a domain around the critical energy. The dependence of this phenomenon on various parameters (size, thermal gradient, interaction) is discussed also with reference to other possible diffusive models. Copyright EDP Sciences/Società Italiana di Fisica/Springer-Verlag 2007