  Dynamical phase transitions are defined as non-analytic points of the large
deviation function of current fluctuations. We show that for boundary driven
systems, many dynamical phase transitions can be identified using the
geometrical structure of an effective potential of a Hamiltonian, recovered
from the macroscopic fluctuation theory description. Using this method we
identify new dynamical phase transitions that could not be recovered using
existing perturbative methods. Moreover, using the Hamiltonian picture, an
experimental scheme is suggested to demonstrate an analog of dynamical phase
transitions in linear, rather than exponential, time.
