Finite-size scaling analysis of the decay of an unstable state during a first order phase transition

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Modern Physics Letters B; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217984988000126· OSTI ID:5707666

Vinals, J ^[1]; Jasnow, D ^[2]

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1. Carnegie-Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (USA). Dept. of Physics
2. Pittsburgh Univ., PA (USA). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

The authors extend standard finite-size scaling methods to study the dynamical evolution of an unstable state far from equilibrium as the system undergoes a first order phase transition. They suggest that the nonequilibrium structure factor S(q,t,L), at late times and for large enough lattice sizes, scales as S(q,t,L) = L/sup d/F(qL, t/sup 1/chi//L). L is the linear dimension of the system and 1/chi is the domain growth exponent. They obtain chi = 2 in the case of the kinetic Ising model with a nonconserved order parameter. For a critical quench in a system with conserved order parameter, scaling of the peak of the structure factor gives 1/chi {approx} 0.27. Higher wavenumbers, however, are more consistent with chi = 3.

• OSTI ID: 5707666
• Journal Information: Modern Physics Letters B; (USA), Vol. 2:2; ISSN 0217-9849
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CRYSTAL LATTICES
SCALING
ORDER-DISORDER TRANSFORMATIONS
ISING MODEL
LATTICE PARAMETERS
CRYSTAL MODELS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
656001* - Condensed Matter Physics- Solid-State Plasma
656100 - Condensed Matter Physics- Superconductivity