Metastability in fluctuation-driven first-order transitions: Nucleation of lamellar phases
- AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Center for Nonlinear Dynamics, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)
The nucleation of a lamellar phase from a supercooled homogeneous phase in a fluctuation-driven first-order transition is studied, based on a phenomenological free energy due to Brazovskii (Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, 175 (1975) [Sov. Phys. JETP 41, 85 (1975)]). The absence of phase coexistence in the corresponding mean-field approximation makes application of the standard droplet theory of homogeneous nucleation problematic. A self-consistent coarse-graining procedure is introduced to overcome this difficulty, and the barrier height for nucleation of a critical droplet is estimated in the weak-coupling limit. Contrary to earlier estimates, the critical droplet shape is shown to be anisotropic in general. Some effects of distortions and defects in the lamellar structure are considered and are shown to affect the critical droplet only very near coexistence, where the probability of nucleation vanishes. The coarse-graining procedure introduced here follows from a novel application of the momentum-shell renormalization-group method to systems in the Brazovskii class. Possible applications of the theory to the microphase separation transition in diblock copolymers and to Rayleigh-Benard convection are briefly discussed.
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG03-93ER14312
- OSTI ID:
- 85766
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics, Vol. 52, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Aug 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Right-handed weak currents and ''direct'' neutrinos
Bremsstrahlung of electrons from ions with allowance for screening