The Ginzburg-Landau free energy functional for hard spheres is constructed using the fundamental measure theory approach to density functional theory as a starting point. The functional is used to study the liquid-fcc solid planer interface and the properties of small solid clusters nucleating within a liquid. The surface tension for planer interfaces agrees well with simulation and it is found...

We apply a generalized numerical transfer-matrix method to the two-dimensional Ising ferromagnet in a nonzero field to obtain complex constrained free energies. Below T c certain eigenstates of the transfer matrix are identified as representing a metastable phase. The imaginary parts of the metastable constrained free energies are found to agree with a field-theoretical droplet model for a wide...

Previously, it has been shown that the direct correlation function for a Lennard-Jones fluid could be modeled by a sum of that for hard-spheres, a mean-field tail, and a simple linear correction in the core region constructed so as to reproduce the (known) bulk equation of state of the fluid [Lutsko, J. Chem. Phys. 127, 054701 (2007)]. Here, this model is combined with ideas from the fundamenta...

We stabilize nematic droplets with handles against surface tension-driven instabilities, using a yield-stress material as outer fluid, and study the complex nematic textures and defect structures that result from the competition between topological constraints and the elasticity of the nematic liquid crystal. We uncover a surprisingly persistent twisted configuration of the nematic director ins...

Test-area deformations are used to analyze vapor-liquid interfaces of Lennard-Jones particles by molecular dynamics simulation. For planar vapor-liquid interfaces the change in free energy is captured by the average of the corresponding change in energy, the leading-order contribution. This is consistent with the commonly used mechanical (pressure-tensor) route for the surface tension. By contr...

We compute by numerical transfer-matrix methods the surface free energy τ(T ), the surface stiffness coefficient κ(T ), and the single-step free energy s(T ) for Ising ferromagnets with (∞×L) square-lattice and (∞×L×M) cubic-lattice geometries, into which an interface is introduced by imposing antiperiodic or plus/minus boundary conditions in one transverse direction. The surface tension σ(θ, T...

In standard nucleation theory, the nucleation process is characterized by computing ΔΩ(V), the reversible work required to form a cluster of volume V of the stable phase inside the metastable mother phase. However, other quantities besides the volume could play a role in the free energy of cluster formation, and this will in turn affect the nucleation barrier and the shape of the nucleus. Here ...

An atomistic modeling approach is performed to investigate the effect of temperature on the structural properties of the MMA (methyl methacrylate) thin film and a Au(111) surface. The density profile and orientation of the MMA molecule in the thin film have been analyzed. We found that there is a significant effect on the density profile and orientation of the MMA molecule in the region near th...