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arXiv · 1809.09834

Reconsidering the structure of nucleation theories

Anja Kuhnhold·Hugues Meyer·Graziano Amati·Philipp Pelagejcev·Tanja Schilling
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Abstract

We discuss the structure of the equation of motion that governs nucleation processes at first order phase transitions. From the underlying microscopic dynamics of a nucleating system, we derive by means of a non-equilibrium projection operator formalism the equation of motion for the size distribution of the nuclei. The equation is exact, i.e. the derivation does not contain approximations. To assess the impact of memory, we express the equation of motion in a form that allows for direct comparison to the Markovian limit. As a numerical test, we have simulated crystal nucleation from a supersaturated melt of particles interacting via a Lennard-Jones potential. The simulation data show effects of non-Markovian dynamics.

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Anja Kuhnhold, Hugues Meyer, Graziano Amati, Philipp Pelagejcev, Tanja Schilling. 2018-09-26. Reconsidering the structure of nucleation theories. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.100.052140

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