A. Hagberg et E. Meron, DOMAIN-WALLS IN NONEQUILIBRIUM SYSTEMS AND THE EMERGENCE OF PERSISTENT PATTERNS, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics, 48(2), 1993, pp. 705-708
Domain walls in equilibrium phase transitions propagate in a preferred
direction so as to minimize the free energy of the system. As a resul
t, initial spatiotemporal patterns ultimately decay toward uniform sta
tes. The absence of a variational principle far from equilibrium allow
s the coexistence of domain walls propagating in any direction. As a c
onsequence, persistent patterns may emerge. We study this mechanism of
pattern formation using a nonvariational extension of Landau's model
for second-order phase transitions.