Quasi steady state approximation of the small clusters in Becker–Döring equations leads to boundary conditions in the Lifshitz–Slyozov limit

Abstract

This papers addresses the connection between two classical models of phase transition phenomena describing different stages of the growth of clusters. The Becker-D\"oring model (BD) describes discrete-sized clusters through an infinite set of ordinary differential equations. The Lifshitz-Slyozov equation (LS) is a transport partial differential equation on the continuous half-line $x\in (0,+\infty)$. We introduce a scaling parameter $\varepsilon>0$, which accounts for the grid size of the state space in the BD model, and recover the LS model in the limit $\varepsilon\to 0$. The connection has been already proven in the context of outgoing characteristic at the boundary $x=0$ for the LS model, when small clusters tend to shrink. The main novelty of this work resides in a new estimate on the growth of small clusters, which behave at a fast time scale. Through a rigorous quasi steady state approximation, we derive boundary conditions for the incoming characteristic case, when small clusters tend to grow.