Dynamics of a diffuse liquid-vapor interface

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
As a sequel to our previous discussion of a hydrodynamic model for the condensation of a near-critical fluid, we describe the dynamics of a diffuse planar liquid-vapor interface. We show that inclusion of the thermal mode and its coupling to the density mode is essential in deriving the dispersion relation for capillary waves, and the isothermal approach based either on hydrodynamic or mean-field kinetic theory must lead to a nonphysical description of excitations of the diffuse interface. The problem of the rate of growth of a critical liquid droplet in a supersaturated vapor is reconsidered, and a corrected expression for this rate is shown to have the expected scaling behavior.