Van der Waals theory of wetting with exponential interactions

T. Aukrust and E.H. Hauge

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1987, vol. 141, issue 2, 427-465

Abstract: The wetting transition in a model with exponential attractions is investigated within the framework of modern Van der Waals theory. The transition is first studied by a numerical procedure due to Tarazona and Evans. The basis for this procedure is scrutinized and found to be sound in principle. Semi-quantitative estimates for the convergence rate are given. However, in practice, this numerical procedure is not able to locate precisely the tricritical line in the parameter space separating regions with a first-order transition from those with a continuous wetting transition. For this purpose an analytic approach is developed, asymptotically exact as the wall-fluid and fluid-fluid forces become equal. The tricritical line is located and found to have qualitatively different properties from those found in previous work on this model. Wetting exponents, including a new exponent describing the energy barrier in a weakly first-order transition, are determined. In large parts of the parameter space they are found to be non-universal, changing with the model parameters in a continuous manner.

Date: 1987
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:141:y:1987:i:2:p:427-465

DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(87)90174-9

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