Ferro-electric phase transition in a polar liquid and the nature of \lambda-transition in supercooled water

TL;DR

This paper models a ferro-electric phase transition in supercooled water, showing how long-range dipole interactions cause a second-order transition that explains several anomalous properties of supercooled water.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for the ferro-electric transition in polar liquids, linking microscopic dipole interactions to macroscopic anomalies in supercooled water.

Findings

Identification of a ferro-electric phase transition at low temperatures

Explanation of weak dielectric constant singularity in supercooled water

Connection between dipole interactions and anomalous density behavior

Abstract

We develop a series of approximations to calculate free energy of a polar liquid. We show that long range nature of dipole interactions between the molecules leads to para-electric state instability at low temperatures and to a second-order phase transition. We establish the transition temperature, T_{c}, both within mean field and ring diagrams approximation and show that the ferro-electric transition may play an important role explaining a number of peculiar properties of supercooled water, such as weak singularity of dielectric constant as well as to a large extent anomalous density behavior. Finally we discuss the role of fluctuations, shorter range forces and establish connections with phenomenological models of polar liquids.