Related papers: Instantons and Surface Tension at a First-Order Tr…

The appearance of a convex dip in the microcanonical entropy of finite systems usually signals a first order transition. However, a convex dip also shows up in some systems with a continuous transition as for example in the Baxter-Wu model…

Strongly correlated materials often undergo a Mott metal-insulator transition, which is tipically first-order, as a function of control parameters like pressure. Upon doping, rich phase diagrams with competing instabilities are found. Yet,…

Using both analytical arguments and detailed numerical evidence we show that the first order transition in the type-I 2D Abelian Higgs model can be understood in terms of the statistical mechanics of vortices, which behave in this regime as…

In the two-dimensional CP(N-1) model one can parametrize exact many-instanton solutions via N `constituents' (called `zindons'). This parameterization allows, in principle, a complete `melting' of individual instantons. The model is…

We study first-order electroweak phase transitions nonperturbatively, assuming any particles beyond the Standard Model are sufficiently heavy to be integrated out at the phase transition. Utilising high temperature dimensional reduction, we…

In some recent papers by Tamura, Tanaka and Kawashima [arXiv:1102.5475, arXiv:1012.4254], a class of Potts models with "invisible" states was introduced, for which the authors argued by numerical arguments and by a mean-field analysis that…

Phase transitions are a fundamental concept in science describing diverse phenomena ranging from, e.g., the freezing of water to Bose-Einstein condensation. While the concept is well-established in equilibrium, similarly fundamental…

Instantons play a crucial role in understanding non-perturbative dynamics in quantum field theories, including those with spontaneously broken gauge symmetries. In the broken phase, finite-size instanton-like configurations are no longer…

We present the exact solution of the 1D classical short-range Potts model with invisible states. Besides the $q$ states of the ordinary Potts model, this possesses $r$ additional states which contribute to the entropy, but not to the…

We investigate in this paper the ground state and the nature of the transition from an orientational ordered phase at low temperature to the disordered state at high temperature in a molecular crystal. Our model is a Potts model which takes…

Phase transitions are ubiquitous phenomena, exemplified by the melting of ice and spontaneous magnetization of magnetic material. In general, a phase transition is associated with a symmetry breaking of a system; occurs due to the…

The properties of interfaces in non-equilibrium situations are studied by constructing a density matrix with a space-dependent temperature. The temperature gradient gives rise to new terms in the equation for the order parameter. Surface…

We numerically examine the effect of thermal fluctuations on a first-order phase transition in 2+1 dimensions. By focusing on the expansion of a single bubble we are able to calculate changes in the bubble wall's velocity as well as changes…

We investigate the phase behavior of athermal polymer/nanoparticle blends near a hard substrate. We apply the density functional theory of Tripathi and Chapman to these blends. We find a first order phase transition where the nanoparticles…

Traditionally, phase transitions are defined in the thermodynamic limit only. We discuss how phase transitions of first order (with phase separation and surface tension), continuous transitions and (multi)-critical points can be seen and…

It is widely believed that the phase transition for the four-state ferromagnetic Potts model on the square lattice is of the pseudo-first order. Specifically, it is expected that first-order phase transition behavior is found on small…

We reconsider the mean-field Potts model with $q$ interacting and $r$ non-interacting (invisible) states. The model was recently introduced to explain discrepancies between theoretical predictions and experimental observations of phase…

Liquid crystals in two dimensions undergo a first-order isotropic-to-quasi-nematic transition, provided the particle interactions are sufficiently ``sharp and narrow''. This implies phase coexistence between isotropic and quasi-nematic…

Polymorphism is ubiquitous in crystalline solids. Amorphous solids, such as glassy water and silicon, may undergo amorphous-to-amorphous transitions (AATs). The nature of AATs remains ambiguous, due to diverse system-dependent behaviors and…

We study the effect of surface tension of the phase boundary in the dynamics of an expanding fluid. A fluid at local thermal equilibrium, but has a slowly varying temperature profile, like the plasma formed in heavy ion collisions, will…