Abstract
The wetting of an attractive planar wall by liquid at liquid-gas coexistence is investigated from a microscopic point of view. A model for interface detachment due to thermal fluctuations is first worked out. An empirical framework for distinguishing between first-order and continuous wetting transitions is then set up, and quantified by the introduction of the van der Waals mean field model. This is solved for strong, short-range and weak, long-range forces. The role of fluctuations is reconsidered, and the nature of the required corrections examined, both for wall-fluid and fluid-fluid interfaces.
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This paper was presented at the conference on the Statistical Mechanics of Phase Transitions-Mathematical and Physical Aspects, Třeboň, Czechoslovakia, September 1–6, 1986.
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Percus, J.K. Some aspects of the wetting transition1. J Stat Phys 47, 801–825 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01206159
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01206159