RELAXATION TO EQUILIBRIUM IN NONCONSERVATIVE LATTICE SYSTEMS

We present a new approach to study relaxation towards equilibrium of l attice model systems with non-conserved order parameter and spatial ho mogeneity in time. The theory is mainly based on a simple scaling rela tion for the relaxation time. This relation, when true, implies that t he system time-probability distribution has a Gibbsian form when it is near the final equilibrium state. We apply the theory to the study of the q-state Potts model in one dimension. Besides, we present a Monte Carlo computer-simulation study that provides a direct strong justifi cation of the hypothesis and results of the theory.