NUCLEATION, DOMAIN GROWTH, AND FLUCTUATIONS IN A BISTABLE CHEMICAL-SYSTEM

Phase separation and nucleation processes are investigated for a bistable chemical system. The study utilizes a reactive lattice-gas cellular automaton model to provide a mesoscopic description of the dynamics. Simulations of steady-state structure, wave propagation, and critical nucleus size using this model are compared with results based on the deterministic equations of motion. The dynamic structure factor is computed for evolution from the unstable state and the effects of correlations are examined for early and late times. The study provides insight into these processes in a fluctuating, extended medium and also provides a test of the ability of the reactive lattice-gas method to describe the fluctuations in the system.