Critical temperature for first-order phase transitions in confined systems

TL;DR

This paper derives how the critical temperature of first-order phase transitions depends on the size and shape of confined systems with multiple dimensions, using a scalar field model and comparing with experimental data.

Contribution

It provides a new analytical expression for the transition temperature in confined systems with multiple compactified dimensions, specifically for first-order phase transitions.

Findings

Derived formula for T_c as a function of system size and shape.

Qualitative agreement with experimental data for superconducting films and wires.

Extended analysis to second-order transitions for completeness.

Abstract

We consider the Euclidean $D$-dimensional $-\lambda |\phi |^4+\eta |\phi |^6$ ($\lambda ,\eta >0 $) model with $d$ ($d\leq D$) compactified dimensions. Introducing temperature by means of the Ginzburg--Landau prescription in the mass term of the Hamiltonian, this model can be interpreted as describing a first-order phase transition for a system in a region of the $D$-dimensional space, limited by $d$ pairs of parallel planes, orthogonal to the coordinates axis $x_1, x_2, ..., x_d$. The planes in each pair are separated by distances $L_1, L_2, ..., L_d$. We obtain an expression for the transition temperature as a function of the size of the system, $% T_c(\{L_i\})$, $i=1, 2, ..., d$. For D=3 we particularize this formula, taking $L_1=L_2=... =L_d=L$ for the physically interesting cases $d=1$ (a film), $d=2$ (an infinitely long wire having a square cross-section), and for $d=3$ (a cube). For completeness, the corresponding formulas for second-order transitions are also presented. Comparison with experimental data for superconducting films and wires shows qualitative agreement with our theoretical expressions