Critical phenomena at perfect and non-perfect surfaces

DOI10.1088/0305-4470/37/19/R01zbMATH Open1047.82010arXivcond-mat/0402574OpenAlexW3121893727MaRDI QIDQ4812423FDOQ4812423

Authors: M. Pleimling 

Publication date: 23 August 2004

Published in: Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: In the past perfect surfaces have been shown to yield a local critical behaviour that differs from the bulk critical behaviour. On the other hand surface defects, whether they are of natural origin or created artificially, are known to modify local quantities. It is therefore important to clarify whether these defects are relevant or irrelevant for the surface critical behaviour. The purpose of this review is two-fold. In the first part we summarise some of the important results on surface criticality at perfect surfaces. Special attention is thereby paid to new developments as for example the study of surface critical behaviour in systems with competing interactions or of surface critical dynamics. In the second part the effect of surface defects (presence of edges, steps, quenched randomness, lines of adatoms, regular geometric patterns) on local critical behaviour in semi-infinite systems and in thin films is discussed in detail. Whereas most of the defects commonly encountered are shown to be irrelevant, some notable exceptions are highlighted. It is shown furthermore that under certain circumstances non-universal local critical behaviour may be observed at surfaces.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0402574

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to statistical mechanics (82-02) Interface problems; diffusion-limited aggregation arising in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B24) Critical phenomena in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B27)

Cited In (11)

• Surface critical phenomena of a free Bose gas with enhanced hopping at the surface
• Universality and interfaces at critical end points
• An effective field theory study of layering transitions in Blume-Capel thin films in the presence of quenched random crystal fields
• Fluctuation induced forces in critical films with disorder at their surfaces
• Critical dynamics in thin films
• Conformal invariance in three dimensional percolation
• Monte Carlo simulations of dynamic phase transitions in ultrathin Blume-Capel films
• Massive field-theory approach to surface critical behavior in three-dimensional systems.
• The dynamic exponent of the Ising model on negatively curved surfaces
• Thermodynamics of holographic defects
• Critical behavior of collapsing surfaces

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