Condensation phenomena in thermodynamically unstable systems

H.A. Posch, H. Narnhofer and W. Thirring

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1993, vol. 194, issue 1, 482-493

Abstract: Systems composed of particles with purely attractive potentials are thermodynamically unstable. Lowering their total energy below a certain threshold results in a phase transition associated with a significant increase in temperature. A single cluster is formed which floats in the rest atmosphere of the remaining particles. The microcanonical and canonical equilibrium properties and transient behaviour of such classical systems have been studied by computer simulation. We find that clustered equilibrium states are well described by stationary solutions of the Vlasov equation, but the Vlasov dynamics is unable to account for the collapse. Reduced phase-space distributions have been used to compute entropy changes for systems subjected to periodic expansions and compressions. From model considerations we deduce that in the thermodynamic limit active states violating the second law are fractally distributed in phase space.

Date: 1993
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:194:y:1993:i:1:p:482-493

DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(93)90379-I

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