Universality versus nonuniversality in asymmetric fluid criticality

TL;DR

This paper discusses the universal and nonuniversal features of critical phenomena in real fluids, emphasizing the Ising-model universality class and the roles of symmetric and asymmetric nonasymptotic behaviors.

Contribution

It clarifies the separation of symmetric and asymmetric nonasymptotic critical behaviors and introduces new universal exponents and crossover scales relevant to fluid criticality.

Findings

Critical phenomena in fluids exhibit both universal and system-dependent features.

Asymptotically, fluids belong to the Ising universality class with specific critical exponents.

Nonasymptotic behavior includes symmetric and asymmetric parts, characterized by universal and system-dependent parameters.

Abstract

Critical phenomena in real fluids demonstrate a combination of universal features caused by the divergence of long-range fluctuations of density and nonuniversal (system-dependent) features associated with specific intermolecular interactions. Asymptotically, all fluids belong to the Ising-model class of universality. The asymptotic power laws for the thermodynamic properties are described by two independent universal critical exponents and by two independent nonuniversal critical amplitudes; other critical amplitudes can be obtained by universal relations. The nonuniversal critical parameters (critical temperature, pressure, and density) can be absorbed in the property units. Nonasymptotic critical behavior of fluids can be divided into two parts, symmetric ("Ising-like") and asymmetric ("fluid-like"). The symmetric nonasymptotic behavior contains a new universal exponent (Wegner exponent) and the system-dependent crossover scale (Ginzburg number) associated with the range of intermolecular interactions, while the asymmetric features are generally described by an additional universal exponent and by three nonasymptotic amplitudes associated with mixing of the physical fields into the scaling fields.