Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/iii/paper-344/3/b/solution

Apply force balance to one hemisphere. The pressure force is , while the interfacial tension around its equator gives . The Young–Laplace equation therefore yields
To leading order in curvature, let the two bulk compositions be and . Their curvatures agree, , so equal chemical potentials require and hence a common shift .
Since , expansion about the flat coexistence compositions gives . Matching the capillary pressure proves the Gibbs--Thomson relation in these variables:
The pressure jump balances interfacial forces; it does not permit unequal chemical potentials. A common shift in both compositions supplies a common interfacial chemical potential while their pressures differ. The expansion assumes large compared with the phi-four diffuse interface width.

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