Michigan Technological University
Department of Physics

is pleased to announce a colloquium

with

Will Cantrell

Department of Physics
Michigan Technological University

Classical Nucleation Theory: A Polemic

All first order phase transitions are nucleated, meaning that the phases are
separated by an energy barrier, which must be hurdled before the transition can
proceed. Because of that energy barrier, water can be cooled well below its melting
point and heated above the boiling point, to name only two examples. (Heating ice
above the melting point is problematic, which I will briefly discuss.) The most
successful theoretical framework for describing such phase transitions is classical
nucleation theory, based on a synthesis of a thermodynamic description of the
properties of the newly formed phase and a kinetic formulation of the rate at which
small fragments of the stable phase appear via fluctuations in the metastable one.

I will review the basis and assumptions, which underlie classical nucleation theory
and show that in some circumstances it fails to account for observed phenomena.
Finally, I will present examples from my own research where classical nucleation
theory breaks down.

Thursday, February 26, 2004

4:00 p.m., Fisher 139

Refreshments will be served

MTU | Physics | Colloquium