Dynamics and melting of surfaces

Abstract Melting has long been suspected to be a surface-initiated process. Recently the first direct experimental observation of a melting point depression was made on the surface of a lead crystal. The experimental findings are in agreement both with modern theories on the role of surfaces in first-order phase transitions in solids and with computer simulations on model crystals close to melting. After a brief review of early predictions of surface melting and of macroscopic observations related to this phenomenon, the recent experiments and theories are discussed.

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