Phase separation driven by external fluctuations

¹ Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Colom 11, E-08222 Terrassa, Spain
² Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Av. Dr. Gregorio Marañón, 50, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain
³ Institute for Nonlinear Science, Department 0407, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0407, USA
⁴ Departament d'Estructura i Constituents de la Matéria, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 647, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain
⁵ Departament de Física, Universitat de les Illes Balears and Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (UIB-CSIC ), E-07071 Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Received: 21 January 1998
Accepted: 13 March 1998

Abstract

The influence of external fluctuations in phase separation processes is analysed. These fluctuations arise from random variations of an external control parameter. A linear stability analysis of the homogeneous state shows that phase separation dynamics can be induced by external noise. The spatial structure of the noise is found to have a relevant role in this phenomenon. Numerical simulations confirm these results. A comparison with order-disorder noise-induced phase transitions is also made.