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Download fileTheory for the phase behaviour of a colloidal fluid with competing interactions
journal contribution
posted on 2014-10-07, 14:18 authored by Andrew ArcherAndrew Archer, C. Ionescu, D. Pini, L. ReattoWe study the phase behaviour of a fluid composed of particles which interact via a pair potential that is repulsive for large inter-particle distances, is attractive at intermediate distances and is strongly repulsive at short distances (the particles have a hard core). As well as exhibiting gas–liquid phase separation, this system also exhibits phase transitions from the uniform fluid phases to modulated inhomogeneous fluid phases. Starting from a microscopic density functional theory, we develop an order parameter theory for the phase transition in order to examine in detail the phase behaviour. The amplitude of the density modulations is the order parameter in our theory. The theory predicts that the phase transition from the uniform to the modulated fluid phase can be either first order or second order (continuous). The phase diagram exhibits two tricritical points, joined to each other by the line of second order transitions.
Funding
A.J.A. is grateful for the support of RCUK and C. I., D. P., and L. R. acknowledge support from the European Union, Contract No. MRTN-CT2003-504712.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Mathematical Sciences
Published in
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTERVolume
20Issue
41Pages
? - ? (11)Citation
ARCHER, A.J. ... et al, 2008. Theory for the phase behaviour of a colloidal fluid with competing interactions. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 20 (41), 415106.Publisher
© IOP Publishing LtdVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2008Notes
This article was published in the serial, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter [© IOP Press]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/20/41/415106ISSN
0953-8984Publisher version
Language
- en