Asymptotic solution of the master equation near a nonequilibrium transition: The stationary solutions

The time evolution for the logarithm of the probability as derived from the master equation, is expanded in terms of the inverse of the size of the system. The first term of the expansion yields the Hamilton-Jacobi equation studied by Kubo et al.7). The second term, which plays a fundamental role in the description of transition phenomena, is retained. In this way, the exact form of the stationary solution for a Schlogl type model is recovered. Taylor expansions around extrema yield approximate stationary solutions both at the transition point as well as above it.