A Droplet Within the Spherical Model

Various substances in the liquid state tend to form droplets. In this paper the shape of such droplets is investigated within the spherical model of a lattice gas. We show that in this case the droplet boundary is always diffuse, as opposed to sharp, and find the corresponding density profiles (drop...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of statistical physics 2011-03, Vol.142 (5), p.1085-1104
Main Author: Patrick, A. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Mathematical and Computational Physics
Physical Chemistry
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Quantum Physics
Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems
Theoretical
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Various substances in the liquid state tend to form droplets. In this paper the shape of such droplets is investigated within the spherical model of a lattice gas. We show that in this case the droplet boundary is always diffuse, as opposed to sharp, and find the corresponding density profiles (droplet shapes). The spatial location of a droplet is not fixed in translation-invariant models, hence, their natural states are described by mixed phases. To obtain pure macroscopic states (which describe localized droplets) one can use generalized quasi-averages. Conventional quasi-averaging deforms droplets and, hence, can not be used for this purpose. On the contrary, application of the generalized method of quasi-averages to the spherical model yields density profiles which do not depend on the magnitude of the applied external field.
ISSN:0022-4715
1572-9613
DOI:10.1007/s10955-011-0150-x