title: Non-mean-field effects in systems with long-range forces in competition.
abstract: We investigate the canonical equilibrium of systems with long-range forces in competition. These forces create a modulation in the interaction potential and modulated phases appear at the system scale. The structure of these phases differentiate this system from monotonic potentials, where only the mean-field and disordered phases exist. With increasing temperature, the system switches from one ordered phase to another through a first-order phase transition. Both mean-field and modulated phases may be stable, even at zero temperature, and the long-range nature of the interaction will lead to metastability characterized by extremely long time scales.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, 13560-970 São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bachelard
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Staniscia
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013816:Thermodynamics