0000000000246615
AUTHOR
A. De Virgiliis
Ising systems with pairwise competing surface fields
The magnetization distribution and phase behaviour of large but finite Ising simple cubic L × L × L lattices in d = 3 dimensions and square L × L lattices in d = 2 dimensions are studied for the case where four free boundaries are present, at which surface fields +Hs act on one pair of opposite boundaries while surface fields −Hs act on the other pair (in d = 3, periodic boundary conditions are used for the remaining pair). Both the distribution PL(m) of the global magnetization and also the distribution of the local magnetization m(x,z) are obtained by Monte Carlo simulations, where x and z denote the coordinates when the boundaries are oriented along the x-axis and z-axis (in d = 2); or a…
Interfaces in the confined Ising system with competing surface fields
Abstract When a magnetic Ising film is confined in a L × M geometry ( L ⪡ M ) short-range competing magnetic fields ( h 1 ) are applied at opposite walls along the M -direction, a (weakly rounded) localization–delocalization transition of the interface between domains of different orientation that runs parallel to walls can be observed. This transition is the precursor of a wetting phase transition that occurs in the limit of infinite film thickness ( L → ∞ ) at the critical curve T w ( h 1 ) . For T T w ( h 1 ) ( T > T w ( h 1 ) ) such an interface is bound to (unbound from) the walls, while right at T w ( h 1 ) the interface is freely fluctuating around the center of the film. We present …
Corner wetting in the two-dimensional Ising model: Monte Carlo results
Square L ? L (L = 24?128) Ising lattices with nearest neighbour ferromagnetic exchange are considered using free boundary conditions at which boundary magnetic fields ? h are applied, i.e., at the two boundary rows ending at the lower left corner a field +h acts, while at the two boundary rows ending at the upper right corner a field ?h acts. For temperatures T less than the critical temperature Tc of the bulk, this boundary condition leads to the formation of two domains with opposite orientations of the magnetization direction, separated by an interface which for T larger than the filling transition temperature Tf (h) runs from the upper left corner to the lower right corner, while for T …
Interplay of order-disorder phenomena and diffusion in rigid binary alloys in the presence of vacancies: Monte Carlo simulations
Transport phenomena are studied for a binary $(AB)$ alloy on a rigid square lattice with nearest-neighbor attraction between unlike particles, assuming a small concentration ${c}_{v}$ of vacancies $V$ being present, to which $A$ $(B)$ particles can jump with rates ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{A}$ $({\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{B})$ in the case where the nearest-neighbor attractive energy ${ϵ}_{AB}$ is negligible in comparison with the thermal energy ${k}_{B}T$ in the system. This model exhibits a continuous order-disorder transition for concentrations ${c}_{A},{c}_{B}=1\ensuremath{-}{c}_{A}\ensuremath{-}{c}_{V}$ in the range ${c}_{A,1}^{\mathit{crit}}\ensuremath{\leqslant}{c}_{A}\ensuremath{\leqslant}…
Phase diagram and structure of colloid-polymer mixtures confined between walls
The influence of confinement, due to flat parallel structureless walls, on phase separation in colloid-polymer mixtures, is investigated by means of grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations. Ultra-thin films, with thicknesses between $D=3-10$ colloid diameters, are studied. The Asakura-Oosawa model [J. Chem. Phys. 22, 1255 (1954)] is used to describe the particle interactions. To simulate efficiently, a ``cluster move'' [J. Chem. Phys. 121, 3253 (2004)] is used in conjunction with successive umbrella sampling [J. Chem. Phys. 120, 10925 (2004)]. These techniques, when combined with finite size scaling, enable an accurate determination of the unmixing binodal. Our results show that the critica…
Colloid-polymer mixtures between asymmetric walls: Evidence for an interface localization transition
We demonstrate via computer simulation that mixtures of colloids and polymers confined to thin films have the ability to undergo an interface localization transition. While one wall of the film is assumed to be hard for both particles, at the other wall, an additional repulsive potential acts, but on the colloids only. By varying the strength of this repulsion, a crossover from capillary condensation to interface localization is found. The latter occurs under conditions where in the bulk almost complete phase separation has occurred.