Facilitated Asymmetric Exclusion
Journal Article

Published: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Journal: Physical Review Letters, Volume 105, Number 210603
arXiv.org: 1007.3217

Authors (3 total): A. Gabel, P. Krapivsky, S. Redner (Chair)

Abstract:

We introduce a class of facilitated asymmetric exclusion processes in which particles are pushed by neighbors from behind. For the simplest version in which a particle can hop to its vacant right neighbor only if its left neighbor is occupied, we determine the steady-state current and the distribution of cluster sizes on a ring. We show that an initial density downstep develops into a rarefaction wave that can have a jump discontinuity at the leading edge, while an upstep results in a shock wave. This unexpected rarefaction wave discontinuity occurs generally for facilitated exclusion processes.