Phase transitions and critical phenomena in the liquid bridge under lateral acceleration - art. no. 027302

We study the shape of a liquid body under the influence of a lateral body f orce in a thin liquid bridge. The shape of the liquid body changes continuo usly or discontinuously depending on the volume of liquid body. We show tha t the transition from discontinuous to continuous change is described by th e volume-induced phase transition driven by the lateral body force. The ord er parameter of the phase transition is the amount of shift of the center o f mass of liquid body. Critical exponents of a mean-field model have been o btained by numerical calculation. We provide the validity of this critical behavior through the m(4) model of Landau theory of phase transition.