Critical short-time dynamics in a system with interacting static and diffusive populations.

We study the critical short-time dynamical behavior of a one-dimensional model where diffusive individuals can infect a static population upon contact. The model presents an absorbing phase transition from an active to an inactive state. Previous calculations of the critical exponents based on quasistationary quantities have indicated an unusual crossover from the directed percolation to the diffusive contact process universality classes. Here we show that the critical exponents governing the slow short-time dynamic evolution of several relevant quantities, including the order parameter, its relative fluctuations, and correlation function, reinforce the lack of universality in this model. Accurate estimates show that the critical exponents are distinct in the regimes of low and high recovery rates.