  A numerical method is devised for study of stochastic partial differential
equations describing directed percolation, the contact process, and other
models with a continuous transition to an absorbing state. Owing to the
heightened sensitivity to fluctuationsattending multiplicative noise in the
vicinity of an absorbing state, a useful method requires discretization of the
field variable as well as of space and time. When applied to the field theory
for directed percolation in 1+1 dimensions, the method yields critical
exponents which compare well against accepted values.
