Universal scaling effects of a temperature gradient at first-order transitions

Abstract

We study the effects of smooth inhomogeneities at first-order transitions. We show that a temperature gradient at a thermally-driven first-order transition gives rise to nontrivial universal scaling behaviors with respect to the length scale of the variation of the local temperature T(x). We propose a scaling ansatz to describe the crossover region at the surface where T(x)=Tc, where the typical discontinuities of a first-order transition are smoothed out. The predictions of this scaling theory are checked, and get strongly supported, by numerical results for the 2D Potts models, for a sufficiently large number of q-states to have first-order transitions. Comparing with analogous results at the 2D Ising transition, we note that the scaling behaviors induced by a smooth inhomogeneity appear quite similar in first-order and continuous transitions.

arXiv comment8 pages

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Coherent and dissipative dynamics at quantum phase transitions
• Finite-size scaling at the first-order quantum transitions of quantum Potts chains
• Off-equilibrium scaling behaviors across first-order transitions
• Universal scaling in quenches across a discontinuity critical point
• Scaling phenomena driven by inhomogeneous conditions at first-order quantum transitions
• Critical behavior at the spatial boundary of a trapped inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensate