title: Effect of long-range forces on surface freezing
abstract: We examine the effect of long-range van der Waals interactions on surface freezing (SF) in linear hydrocarbon chain molecules, and the wetting criteria of the bulk liquid by the crystalline surface phase. We find that although the effect of van der Waals interactions is small for SF of normal alkanes, it is important for SF of dry and hydrated alcohols. We also find that the long-range interactions should not be ignored in the interpretation of wetting phenomena in recent experimental results. The results are in good agreement with recent experiments.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel.
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deutsch