Directed percolation with long-range interactions: Modeling nonequilibrium wetting

It is argued that some phase transitions observed in models of nonequilibrium wetting phenomena are related to contact processes with long-range interactions. This is investigated by introducing a model where the activation rate of a site at the edge of an inactive island of length l is 1+al(-sigma). Mean-field analysis and numerical simulations indicate that for sigma>1 the transition is continuous and belongs to the universality class of directed percolation, while for 0 <sigma < 1, the transition becomes first order. This criterion is then applied to discuss critical properties of various models of nonequilibrium wetting.