NONSYMMETRIC 1ST-ORDER TRANSITIONS - FINITE-SIZE SCALING AND TESTS FOR INFINITE-RANGE MODELS

Finite-size rounding of first-order transitions is studied for the general case of nonsymmetric phases and nonperiodic boundary conditions. The main features include the surface-induced shift of the rounded transition on the scale 1/L, while the order parameter discontinuity is rounded on the scale 1/Ld. This rounding is described by the universal scaling forms with scaling functions identical to those for the periodic, symmetric case. The proposed formalism applies to scalar-order-parameter, single-domain systems. It is tested by exact calculations for a class of infinite-range models. © 1990 Plenum Publishing Corporation.