Necessary and sufficient condition for a disorder-broadened transition to be identified as 1st order

TL;DR

This paper investigates the conditions under which disorder-broadened first-order phase transitions can be experimentally identified as first order, despite lacking typical signatures like latent heat.

Contribution

It provides a necessary and sufficient experimental criterion for recognizing disorder-broadened first-order transitions as genuinely first order.

Findings

Identifies key experimental signatures for first-order transitions without latent heat

Clarifies the distinction between true first-order and broadened transitions

Proposes a criterion applicable to various disordered systems

Abstract

Disorder-broadened 1st order transitions may not carry the experimental signature of a latent heat. We discuss what experimental observation can provide a necessary and sufficient condition for characterizing this phase transition as 1st order.