2011/03/31 by Fawaz Hrahsheh, David Nozadze, Thomas Vojta
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Quasicrystal Structures and Properties #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat.str-el #nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.83.224402
published as Phys. Rev. B 83, 224402 (2011) · 6 pages, 4 eps figures included, final version as published
arxiv created 2011/06/17 · openalex publication_date 2011/06/17 · arxiv updated 2011/06/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Phase transitions in random systems are smeared if individual spatial regions can order independently of the bulk system. In this paper, we study such smeared phase transitions (both classical and quantum) in substitutional alloys A_1\ensuremath-xBx that can be tuned from an ordered phase at composition x=0 to a disordered phase at x=1. We show that the ordered phase develops a pronounced tail that extends over all compositions x<1. Using optimal fluctuation theory, we derive the composition dependence of the order parameter and other quantities in the tail of the smeared phase transition. We also compare our results to computer simulations of a toy model, and we discuss experiments.