Stochastic analysis of a nonequilibrium phase transition: Some exact results

A system involving all-or-none transitions away from equilibrium is considered. Under the assumption of spatially homogeneous fluctuations an integral representation of the solution of the master equation is derived, which permits an exact evaluation of the variance in the thermodynamic limit. A systematic perturbative solution of the master equation is also developed. Both approaches yield “classical” exponents describing the divergence of the second-order variance as the instability point is approached on either side. Finally, at the instability point the second-order variance is shown to diverge as the 32 power of the volume.