Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 46: Complex Fluids and Soft Matter (joint session DY/CPP)

CPP 46.9: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 11:45–12:00, ZEU 160

First order phase transitions: From bifurcation diagrams to the thermodynamic limit — •Uwe Thiele¹, Tobias Frohoff-Hülsmann¹, Sebastian Engelnkemper¹, Edgar Knobloch², and Andrew J. Archer³ — ¹Institut für Theoretische Physik and Center of Nonlinear Science (CeNoS), Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany — ²Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA — ³Department of Mathematical Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK

We consider simple mean field continuum models for first order liquid-liquid demixing and solid-liquid phase transitions and show how the Maxwell construction at phase coexistence emerges on going from finite-size closed systems to the thermodynamic limit [1]. The theories considered are the Cahn-Hilliard model of phase separation, which is also a model for the liquid-gas transition, and the phase field crystal model of the solid-liquid transition. Our results show that states comprising the Maxwell line depend strongly on the mean density with spatially localized structures playing a key role in the approach to the thermodynamic limit. [1] U. Thiele et al., New J. Phys., at press (2019), doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/ab5caf.