Dispersion of nucleation under the smooth variation of external conditions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a straightforward analytical method to calculate the dispersion in the total number of droplets during nucleation under smoothly varying external conditions, validated by numerical simulations.

Contribution

The paper presents a new analytical approach to quantify droplet dispersion in nucleation processes with varying external conditions, supported by simulation validation.

Findings

Analytical dispersion results match numerical simulations.

Stochastic appearance of initial droplets significantly influences dispersion.

Method provides a simple way to predict droplet number variability.

Abstract

A simple method to calculate dispersion of the total number of droplets appeared in the process of nucleation caused by the smooth variation of external conditions has been presented. The analytical result for dispersion is compared with results of numerical simulations and the coincidence has been observed. The role of stochastic appearance of several first droplets in formation of dispersion has been analyzed.