Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/3306

 Title: Effect of fluctuations on the freezing of a colloidal suspension in an external periodic potential Authors: Chakrabarti, J.Sinha, Supurna Issue Date: 1997 Citation: Journal de Physique II, 1997, Vol.7, p729-741 Abstract: We incorporate the effects of fluctuations in a density functional analysis of the freezing of a colloidal liquid in the presence of an external potential generated by interfering laser beams. A mean-field treatment, using a density functional theory, predicts that with the increase in the strength of the modulating potential, the freezing transition changes from a first order to a continuous one via a tricritical point for a suitable choice of the modulating wavevectors. We demonstrate here that the continuous nature of the freezing transition at large values of the external potential ${V_{\rm e}}$ survives the presence of fluctuations. We also show that fluctuations tend to stabilize the liquid phase in the large ${V_{\rm e}}$ regime. Description: Restricted Access. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/3306 ISSN: 1155-43121286-4870 (Online) Alternative Location: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jp2:1997155 Copyright: (1997) Les Editions de Physique Appears in Collections: Research Papers (TP)

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