Phase transition in a 1d driven tracer model

Abstract: The effect of particle overtaking on transport in a narrow channel is studied using a 1d model of a driven tracer in a quiescent bath. In contrast with the well-studied non-driven case, where the tracer's long-time dynamics changes from sub-diffusive to diffusive whenever overtaking is allowed, the driven tracer is shown to exhibit a phase transition at a finite overtaking rate. The transition separates a phase in which the stationary bath density profile, as seen in the tracer's frame, is extended, as in the non-overtaking case, to a phase with a localized bath density profile. In the extended phase the tracer velocity vanishes in the thermodynamic limit while it remains finite in the localized phase. The phase diagram of the model, as well as the tracer velocity and the bath density profile in both phases, are studied, demonstrating their distinct features.