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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Type of dynamic phase transition in bistable equations
Gregory Berkolaiko1, Michael Grinfeld
1Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA. Gregory.Berkolaiko@math.tamu.edu
Abstract:
We consider a class of bistable periodically perturbed ordinary differential equations of importance in mathematical physics and derive an asymptotic criterion for the existence of a tricritical point (TCP). Surprisingly, in the adiabatic limit the criterion is local and very simple. It also allows one to calculate the location of a TCP in parameter space, which we illustrate with three examples.
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