Nonequilibrium phase transition in the kinetic Ising model: Existence of a tricritical point and stochastic resonance

The dynamic phase transition has been studied in the two-dimensional kinetic Ising model in the presence of a time varying (sinusoidal) magnetic field by Monte Carlo simulation. The nature (continuous or discontinuous) of the transition is characterized by studying the distribution of the order parameter and the temperature variation of the fourth-order cumulant. For the higher values of the field amplitude the transition observed is discontinuous and for lower values of the field amplitude it is continuous, indicating the existence of a tricritical point (separating the nature of transition) on the phase boundary. The transition is observed to be a manifestation of stochastic resonance. [S1063-651X(99)07801-0].