Scaling theory for metastable states and their lifetimes

The response of the magnetization to a sudden reversal of the magnetic field is studied in the kinetic Ising model by means of computer experiments on square N×N lattices. It is found that the nonequilibrium relaxation function fulfills a dynamic scaling hypothesis. The magnetization of the metastable state agrees with predictions of the cluster model and also with an analytic continuation of the linear-model equation of state. © 1973 The American Physical Society.