Phase transitions in systems small enough to be clusters

We analyze peculiarities of phase transitions in small systems. We focus on the formation of a tiny liquid drop in a small N, V, T system, and develop an “extended modified liquid drop” model, which incorporates the effect of the fluctuations relevant for small systems. We compare the predictions for the p−v isotherms and the density profiles with the results of Monte-Carlo simulations of a Lennard-Jones system, and Density Functional Theory.

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