Field-theoretic approach to metastability in the contact process.

A "quantum" field-theoretic formulation of the dynamics of the contact process on a regular graph of degree z is introduced. A perturbative calculation in powers of 1/z of the effective potential for the density of particles phi(t) and an instantonic field psi(t) emerging from the formalism is performed. Corrections to the mean-field distribution of densities of particles in the out-of-equilibrium stationary state are derived in powers of 1/z. Results for typical (e.g., average density) and rare fluctuation (e.g. lifetime of the metastable state) properties are in very good agreement with numerical simulations carried out on D-dimensional hypercubic (z=2D) and Cayley lattices.