Related papers: First-order microcanonical transitions in finite m…
In the canonical formalism of statistical physics, a signature of a first order phase transition for finite systems is the bimodal distribution of an order parameter. Previous thermodynamical studies of nuclear sources produced in heavy-ion…
Equilibrium phase transitions usually emerge from the microscopic behavior of many-body systems and are associated to interesting phenomena such as the generation of long-range order and spontaneous symmetry breaking. They can be defined…
We discuss the implications of finite size effects on the determination of the order of a phase transition which may occur in infinite systems. We introduce a specific model to which we apply different tests. They are aimed to characterise…
First-order phase transition in a highly correlated electron system can manifest as a dynamic phenomenon. The presence of multiple domains of the coexisting phases average out the dynamical effects making it nearly impossible to predict the…
We discuss homogeneous nucleation in a first-order chiral phase transition within an effective field theory approach to low-energy QCD. Exact decay rates and bubble profiles are obtained numerically and compared to analytic results obtained…
Due to the equivalence of the statistical ensembles thermostatic properties of physical systems with short-range interactions can be calculated in different ensembles leading to the same physics. In particular, the ensemble equivalence…
Depending on the exact experimental conditions, the thermodynamic properties of physical systems can be related to one or more thermostatistical ensembles. Here, we survey the notion of thermodynamic temperature in different statistical…
A model for nonequilibrium wetting in 1+1 dimensions is introduced. It comprises adsorption and desorption processes with a dynamics which generically does not obey detailed balance. Depending on the rates of the dynamical processes the…
We study the physics of quantum phase transitions from the perspective of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. For first order quantum phase transitions, we find that the average work done per quench in crossing the critical point is…
We consider a paradigmatic model describing the one-dimensional motion of $N$ rotators coupled through a mean-field interaction, and subject to the perturbation of an external magnetic field. The latter is shown to significantly alter the…
We study the thermodynamic phase transition of a spin Hamiltonian comprising two 3D magnetic sublattices. Each sublattice contains XY spins coupled by the usual bilinear exchange, while spins in different sublattices only interact via…
The simplified model of first-order transition in a media with frozen long-range transition-temperature disorder is considered. It exhibits the smearing of the transition due to appearance of the intermediate inhomogeneous phase with…
Disorder-broadened 1st order transitions may not carry the experimental signature of a latent heat. We discuss what experimental observation can provide a necessary and sufficient condition for characterizing this phase transition as 1st…
The nature of the metal-insulator Mott transition at zero temperature has been discussed for a number of years. Whether it occurs through a quantum critical point or through a first order transition is expected to profoundly influence the…
We investigate the one-dimensional finite-size XY model with opposing surface fields in the X direction. Exact solutions are obtained for the two-site and three-site models, while numerical methods are employed for models with more than…
The physical origin of the backbendings in the equations of state of finite but not necessarily small systems is studied in the Ising model with fixed magnetization (IMFM) by means of the topological properties of the observable…
Computer simulations are presented of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in a liquid crystal confined between two parallel plates a distance H apart. The plates are neutral and do not impose any anchoring on the particles. Depending on the…
We consider the statistical mechanics of a small gaseous system subject to a constant external field. As is well known, in the canonical ensemble the system i) obeys a barometric formula for the density profile and ii) the kinetic…
The elsewhere surmised topological origin of phase transitions is given here new important evidence through the analytic study of an exactly solvable model for which both topology and thermodynamics are worked out. The model is a mean-field…
The effect of nearest-neighbor coupling on the thermodynamic and dynamical properties of the ferromagnetic Hamiltonian Mean Field model (HMF) is studied. For a range of antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor coupling, a canonical first order…