Title: Metastability and the Ising Model

We present recent results on a classical non-equilibrium statistical mechanics problem, in the context of a well-studied idealized interacting particle system, called kinetic Ising model. The problem concerns the speed and the patterns of relaxation of statistical mechanical systems in the proximity of the phase-transition region, and is related to the problem of understanding the metastable behavior of systems in such regions.

1991 Mathematics Subject Classification: 60K35 82B27

Keywords and Phrases: kinetic Ising model, stochastic Ising model, Glauber dynamics, metastability, relaxation, nucleation, droplet growth, Wulff shape, large deviations, asymptotic expansion

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