Random-field Ising model for the hysteresis of the prewetting transition on a disordered substrate

R. Blossey, T. Kinoshita and J. Dupont-Roc

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1998, vol. 248, issue 3, 247-272

Abstract: We study the effect of substrate randomness on the dynamics of a prewetting transition. The prewetting system is mapped to a 2D-random-field Ising model (RFIM) in an external field H, in which the Ising spins ±1 are identified with a wet or nonwet patch of surface. The model is studied in a cylindrical geometry at zero temperature by simulations with a single-spin-flip rule for the dynamics. The total coverage C and the coverage Cb connected to an initially flipped border are both considered, which correspond to physical quantities actually measured in experiments. Ramping the external field H up and down produces smooth and hysteretic curves for C and Cb. The covering of the substrate appears to be a critical transition for Cb occurring at a nonzero critical field Hc. While the growth exponents are compatible with those of percolation, the thresholds Hc depend in a complex way on the disorder strength. Analytical expressions are proposed for Hc in the weak and strong disorder limits, corresponding to two different growth mechanisms.

Keywords: Prewetting transition; Random-field Ising model; Hysteresis; 2D disordered system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:248:y:1998:i:3:p:247-272

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(97)00524-4

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