First-order Phase Transitions in Finite Systems I: Periodic Boundary Conditions

Igor Medved

DOI:
Abstract
We briefly review rigorous results on the finite-size effect near first-order phase transitions at which a two-phase coexistence takes place. We consider a large class of statistical mechanical models in (hyper)cubic volumes with periodic boundary conditions at low temperatures. The results show a universal behavior of the asymptotic smoothing of the phase transition discontinuities. The determination of the transition point from