Finite-size effects on nucleation in a first-order phase transition

Eduardo S. Fraga and Raju Venugopalan

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2005, vol. 345, issue 1, 121-129

Abstract: We discuss finite-size effects on homogeneous nucleation in first-order phase transitions. We study their implications for cosmological phase transitions and to the hadronization of a quark–gluon plasma generated in high-energy heavy ion collisions. Very general arguments allow us to show that the finite size of the early universe has virtually no relevance in the process of nucleation and in the growth of cosmological bubbles during the primordial quark–hadron and the electroweak phase transitions. In the case of high-energy heavy ion collisions, finite-size effects play an important role in the late-stage growth of hadronic bubbles.

Keywords: First-order phase transition; Finite-size effects; Homogeneous nucleation; Quark–gluon plasma; Cosmological phase transitions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:345:y:2005:i:1:p:121-129

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2004.07.045

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