title: Peculiarities of first-order phase transitions in the presence of an electric field.
abstract: In this study, we developed a variational approach for thermodynamic systems with nondistributed parameters in the presence of the external electrostatic field. Using the obtained general relations, we analyzed some characteristic features of the first-order phase transitions in the presence of electric field. We determined the range of the thermodynamic parameters where both phases are stable (hysteresis), and the range of the parameters whereby both phases are metastable. In the range where both phases are metastable, we considered kinetics of formation of a new phase and determined the dependencies of the concentrations of phases in the region of their metastability on the amplitude of the external electric field. The obtained results imply the feasibility to control phase composition in the system by varying the amplitude of the external electrostatic field.
authors.affiliation: The Pearlstone Center for Aeronautical Engineering Studies, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel. yuli@menix.bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dolinsky
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Elperin