Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 15: Internal Symposium: Finite size effects at phase transitions

DY 15.3: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 15:00–15:30, H2

Thermodynamic Casimir Forces — •Siegfried Dietrich — Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Stuttgart, Germany — Institut für Theoretische und Angewandte Physik, Universität Stuttgart, Germany

Long-ranged correlations in a fluid near its critical point lead to clearly identifiable effective forces acting on confining walls. The corresponding universal scaling functions are discussed for different boundary conditions and geometries. The theoretical predictions are compared with high precision experimental data for He4 and He3/He4 wetting films near the superfluid phase transition as well as with synchrotron scattering data from classical binary liquid mixtures. Applications for colloidal suspensions are discussed.