Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 30, 2026
06:26
Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
7.7K
Phase transition and surface sublimation of a mobile Potts model
A Bailly-Reyre1, H T Diep1, M Kaufman1
1Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modélisation Université de Cergy-Pontoise, CNRS, UMR 8089 2, Avenue Adolphe Chauvin, 95302 Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France.
Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
|November 14, 2015
Summary
This study explores phase transitions in a mobile Potts model using Monte Carlo simulations. Increasing temperature causes surface spins to detach, forming a gas, while high concentrations induce a first-order transition in interior spins.
Area of Science:
- Statistical Mechanics
- Condensed Matter Physics
Background:
- The Potts model is a fundamental framework for studying magnetic and other phase transitions.
- Mobile Potts models introduce dynamics, allowing for the study of phenomena like surface sublimation and spin mobility.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate phase transitions in a mobile Potts model.
- Analyze surface sublimation and the behavior of spins near surfaces.
- Examine the influence of temperature, recipient shape, and spin concentration on phase transitions.
Main Methods:
- Monte Carlo simulations were employed to study the mobile Potts model.
- Mean-field approximation was used for the related diluted Potts model.
- Analysis included surface order parameters and system concentration (c).
Main Results:
- Surface spins detach from the solid phase to form a gas at elevated temperatures.
- Spin behavior varies with distance from the surface.
- Sufficiently high concentrations and temperatures trigger a first-order phase transition in interior spins to an orientationally disordered phase.
Conclusions:
- The mobile Potts model exhibits complex phase transitions influenced by temperature, concentration, and geometry.
- Surface sublimation is a key phenomenon driven by thermal energy.
- Mean-field results corroborate the first-order nature of the interior spin transition.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:33Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
20.9K
Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...
20.9K
02:39Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
22.1K
The physical form of a substance changes on changing its temperature. For example, raising the temperature of a liquid causes the liquid to vaporize (convert into vapor). The process is called vaporization—a surface phenomenon. Vaporization occurs when the thermal motion of the molecules overcome the intermolecular forces, and the molecules (at the surface) escape into the gaseous state. When a liquid vaporizes in a closed container, gas molecules cannot escape. As these gas phase molecules...
22.1K
02:31Phase Transitions
23.7K
Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to...
23.7K
01:21Phase Transitions
64
A phase transition is the process in which a substance changes from one state of matter to another, like from a solid to a liquid, liquid to gas, or vice versa, at a specific temperature and under given pressure conditions. This change is spontaneous and is affected by alterations in temperature and pressure. These parameters impact the strength of the forces between molecules (intermolecular forces) in the substance.During a phase transition, both the initial and final phases of the substance...
64
01:03Sublimation
5.6K
Sublimation is the direct transformation of a solid to a gaseous state. For instance, at standard pressure and room temperature, solid carbon dioxide sublimes to gaseous carbon dioxide. The phase diagram depicts the conditions required for sublimation. This process occurs at the solid-gas phase boundary and is not observed above the triple point of the substance. The reverse of sublimation is called deposition, where a gaseous substance condenses directly into a solid. Sublimation and...
5.6K
02:39Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
15.6K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
15.6K