Fluctuation phenomena at a first-order phase transition
- 14 May 1990
- journal article
- letter
- Published by IOP Publishing in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
- Vol. 2 (19) , 4537-4542
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/2/19/020
Abstract
The authors report the observation of a fluctuation-induced first order phase transition between two states of adsorption at a wall-liquid interface. WDA density functional theory modified to enable input of the measured bulk equation of state is used to confirm the critical nature of the mean-field transition. MD computer simulation results show a first-order phase transition associated with dramatic collective fluctuations in the amount of adsorbed fluid. The qualitative appearance of the large-scale fluctuation events is described.Keywords
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