Abstract
We study the phase behaviour of a fluid composed of particles which interact via a pairpotential that is repulsive for large inter-particle distances, is attractive at intermediatedistances and is strongly repulsive at short distances (the particles have a hard core). Aswell as exhibiting gas–liquid phase separation, this system also exhibits phase transitionsfrom the uniform fluid phases to modulated inhomogeneous fluid phases. Starting from amicroscopic density functional theory, we develop an order parameter theory for the phasetransition in order to examine in detail the phase behaviour. The amplitude of thedensity modulations is the order parameter in our theory. The theory predictsthat the phase transition from the uniform to the modulated fluid phase can beeither first order or second order (continuous). The phase diagram exhibits twotricritical points, joined to each other by the line of second order transitions.
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