Nucleation and growth of a stable phase in an Ising-type system

A system of nearest-neighbor interacting spins driven by a Glauber-type dyn amics on a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice was studied as a model for a f irst order phase transition. The primary goal of the study was to verify th r kinetic aspects of the conventional nucleation and growth description whi ch is associated with the motion of the interface, the growth and decay of individual nuclei, and with their size distributions. The role of time-depe ndent nucleation was highlighted, and the overall kinetics of the phase tra nsition were examined. By an artificial modification of the dynamics in ord er to exclude some of the paths in the formation or destruction of nuclei, coagulation effects were studied. The latter have only minor influence in t he immediate vicinity of the binodal, but increase rapidly upon intrusion i nto the metastable phase.