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Critical and Tricritical Wetting in the Two-Dimensional Blume–Capel model

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Abstract

The two-dimensional Blume–Capel model with free surfaces where a surface field \(H_1\) acts and the “crystal field” (controlling the density of the vacancies) takes a value \(D _s\) different from the value \(D\) in the bulk, is studied by Monte Carlo methods. Using a recently developed finite size scaling method that studies thin films in a \(L \times M\) geometry with antisymmetric surface fields \((H_L=-H_1)\) and keeps a generalized aspect ratio \(c = L^2/M\) constant, surface phase diagrams are computed for several typical choices of the parameters. It is shown that both second order and first order wetting transitions occur, separated by tricritical wetting behavior. The special role of vacancies near the surface is investigated in detail.

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Acknowledgments

One of us (E.V.A) acknowledges partial support form the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and from the Schwerpunkt für Rechnergestuetzte Forschungsmethoden in den Naturwissenschaften (SRFN) making his visit at the Institut für Physik der Johannes Gutenberg Universität possible. Also the support of the CONICET (Argentina) is acknowledged. We are grateful to W. Selke for stimulating discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLYSIB), CCT-CONICET, La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 59 Nro 789, (1900), La Plata, Argentina

    Ezequiel V. Albano

  2. Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Ezequiel V. Albano

  3. Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudinger Weg 7, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Kurt Binder

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  1. Ezequiel V. Albano
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Albano, E.V., Binder, K. Critical and Tricritical Wetting in the Two-Dimensional Blume–Capel model. J Stat Phys 157, 436–455 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10955-014-1091-y

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