Order parameter profiles in a system with Neumann – Neumann boundary conditions

Abstract

In this article we consider a critical thermodynamic system with the shape of a thin film confined between two parallel planes. It is assumed that the state of the system at a given temperature and external ordering field is described by order-parameter profiles, which minimize the one-dimensional counterpart of the standard ϕ4 Ginzburg–Landau Hamiltonian and meet the so-called Neumann – Neumann boundary conditions. We give analytic representation of the extremals of this variational problem in terms ofWeierstrass elliptic functions. Then, depending on the temperature and ordering field we determine the minimizers and obtain the phase diagram in the temperature-field plane.