Nonequilibrium second-order phase transitions in stochastic lattice systems: a finite-size scaling analysis in two dimensions

Two-dimensional lattice-gas models with attractive interactions and particle-conserving hopping dynamics under the influence of a very large external electric field along a principal axis are studied in the case of a critical density. A finite-size scaling analysis allows the evaluation of critical indexes for the infinite system as β = 0.230 +/- 0.003, v = 0.55 +/- 0.2, and α ≅ 0. They also describe some qualitative features of the system evolution and the existence of certain anisotropic order even well above the critical temperature in the case of finite lattices