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For an isotropic vector order parameter, an analytic scalar Landau free energy near the origin contains powers of $\mathbf{m}\cdot \mathbf{m}$. Odd powers of its magnitude are rotationally invariant but nonanalytic as functions of the Cartesian components at zero; excluding them requires analyticity, not merely writing the magnitude as a nonnegative scalar. With $d>0$, changing $b$ from positive to negative continuously creates minima at $|\mathbf{m}|=\sqrt{-b/(2d)}$, with an arbitrary direction.^[ref]

The classical Heisenberg model assigns a three-component unit vector to each site and couples pairs by their dot product. Positive $J$ favors parallel alignment. With no applied magnetic field or anisotropy, simultaneous rotations of all vectors preserve the energy, so an ordered state chooses a direction and exhibits spontaneous symmetry breaking. The vector order parameter is the spatially averaged orientation. A quartic Landau free energy describes its mean-field onset near a continuous transition; fluctuations can change the critical exponents.^[ref]

At coexistence, the landau free energy can factor as $F(\varphi )=\lambda {\varphi }^2(\varphi -v{)}^2/4$. The minima at $0,v$ have equal free energy. Differentiating shows the intermediate maximum at $v/2$, with barrier height $\lambda v^4/64$. The barrier is a local free-energy barrier; predicting spatial nucleation also requires interfacial or gradient information.

Fix the spatial mean of a scalar order parameter to $M$ and sum the Boltzmann weights of all configurations with that mean. The resulting constrained partition function $Z_M$ defines this free-energy density, with an additive normalization fixed consistently. For an applied conjugate field $h$, $Z(h)=\int dM{e}^{-{\beta }_{T}V[F_c(M)-hM]}$, up to the chosen measure normalization. The thermodynamic limit gives $f(h)={\inf }_M[F_c(M)-hM]$. A homogeneous Landau free energy is an approximation to this constrained potential; phase-separated configurations can convexify it in the full thermodynamic limit.

For the stable scalar Landau free energy $f=b{\lambda }^4+c{\lambda }^3+a{\lambda }^2+d\lambda$, $b>0$, a stable zero-curvature equilibrium must have $f^{\prime }=f^{\prime \prime }=f^{\prime \prime \prime }=0$. Solving these equations givesAt this point $f=f({\lambda }_c)+b(\lambda -{\lambda }_c{)}^4$. Varying two control parameters allows a line of first-order phase transitions to terminate here. A spinodal point satisfies zero curvature but need not satisfy the third-derivative condition or remain a local minimum.

For $r,b>0$, minimization of the homogeneous Landau free energy gives $2rm+2b{m}^3=B^3$. The unique minimum near zero has $m=B^3/(2r)+O(B^9)$. Therefore its first two derivatives with respect to $B$ vanish at zero, whereas its third derivative is $3/r$. With $r=a(T-T_c)$ the first nonzero response diverges as $3/[a(T-T_c)]$. This is response to the variable $B$ through a cubic source, so it differs from the conventional third-order coefficient for a linearly coupled magnetic field. The missing factor $3!$ would give an incorrect susceptibility if one confused a series coefficient with a derivative.

For a scalar Landau free energy $f=a{\varphi }^2/2+b{\varphi }^4/4+c{\varphi }^3/3+d\varphi$ with $b>0$, the shift $\varphi =\psi -c/(3b)$ removes the cubic term. The quadratic coefficient becomes $a^{\prime }=a-c^2/(3b)$ and the linear coefficient becomes $d^{\prime }=d-ac/(3b)+2c^3/(27b^2)$. In a closed binary fluid mixture, the linear term is constant at fixed total composition, leaving the symmetric quartic phase coexistence construction in the shifted variable.

The leading scalar coupling of an electric field to the nematic order parameter is quadratic in the field and linear in the tensor. For uniaxial nematic order, it is $-3\chi \lambda E^2({\cos }^2\vartheta -1/3)/2$. When $\chi \lambda >0$, minimization aligns the nematic director with the field axis and adds $-\chi E^2\lambda$ to the scalar Landau free energy.

A thermal change in the electroweak Higgs sector as the early Universe cools. Its order and strength depend on the particle content, couplings and effective description. A polynomial landau free energy is a simplified model and does not, by itself, establish a model-independent Higgs-mass bound.

The equilibrium magnetization is a value of the magnetization that minimizes the Landau free energy. A stable equilibrium has nonnegative second derivative with respect to the magnetization; degenerate nonzero minima describe symmetry-related magnetized phases.

A long-wavelength order-parameter description extending a local Landau free energy by gradient terms. For a one-component complex field, a common isotropic form is $\mathcal{F}=\int [\alpha |\Psi {|}^2+\beta |\Psi {|}^4/2+K|\nabla \Psi {|}^2]d^{3}r$. A charged field instead uses a covariant gradient. Static minimization determines equilibrium profiles; a dynamical law requires additional input. Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity and the Ginzburg-Landau functional of a dilute Bose gas realize this structure with different microscopic normalizations.

For the Landau free energy $V(M)=r{M}^2/2+u{M}^4/4-hM$ with $r<0$ and $u>0$, stationary branches satisfy $h=rM+u{M}^3$. Their local stability requires $r+3u{M}^2>0$. At a spinodal point, $M_{\mathrm{sp}}=\pm \sqrt{|r|/(3u)}$ and $h_{\mathrm{sp}}=(2r/3)M_{\mathrm{sp}}$, giving the displayed field magnitude. Following local minima without nucleation produces a hysteresis loop switching at these limits. Equilibrium instead switches between the two global minima at $h=0$.

The Landau-de Gennes free energy is a rotational symmetry preserving Landau free energy of the nematic order parameter. One three-dimensional normalization through fourth order isThe cubic invariant generically produces a first-order phase transition. Its absence in two dimensions is an algebraic identity, not a guarantee that a mean-field approximation captures all fluctuations.

A Landau free energy is a symmetry-constrained analytic expansion in an order parameter. Its minima determine the mean-field equilibrium phases.

A Landau free energy can be expanded in local powers of the order parameter and its spatial derivatives. Internal and spatial symmetries constrain the allowed terms; truncation assumes slowly varying fields.

For a scalar quartic Landau free energy with $a=a_{0}t$ and positive quartic coefficient, the zero-field susceptibility is $1/(a_{0}t)$ above the transition and $1/(2a_0|t|)$ within a selected ordered phase below it. Their singular amplitudes have ratio two. Below the transition this is a one-sided pure-phase response: the globally minimizing magnetization jumps between opposite phases when the field crosses zero. The mean-field ratio is not asserted to be exact in every fluctuation-dominated system.

For a scalar quartic Landau free energy $r_{t}t{m}^2/2+u{m}^4/4-hm$ with $r_t,u>0$, rescaling $m=(r_t/u{)}^{1/2}|t{|}^{1/2}\psi$ gives this minimized scaling form, with $a=r_t^2/u$ and $b=\sqrt{u}/r_t^{3/2}$. The two functions minimize $\pm {\psi }^2/2+{\psi }^4/4-H\psi$. In particular $f_{+}(0)=0$ and $f_{-}(0)=-1/4$. Below the transition the equilibrium field dependence has a cusp at zero; pure-phase derivatives are one-sided. The form gives order-parameter critical exponent $\beta =1/2$ and magnetic-susceptibility critical exponent $\gamma =1$.

For the sextic Landau free energy $V=r{M}^2/2+v{M}^6/6-hM$, $v>0$, with $r$ linear in reduced temperature, the equation of state is $h=rM+v{M}^5$. Its ordered zero-field minimum satisfies $M^4=-r/v$, the inverse magnetic susceptibility is $4|r|$ below the transition and $r$ above, and the critical isotherm satisfies $h=v{M}^5$. The minimized singular free-energy density is $-|r{|}^{3/2}/(3\sqrt{v})$ below and zero above. These facts give the displayed mean-field critical exponents, obeying both the Rushbrooke scaling relation and Widom scaling relation. Both the quadratic and quartic coefficients must be tuned; a generic path with a positive quartic coefficient instead has ordinary critical behavior. Fluctuations change the result below the tricritical upper critical dimension three, and marginal corrections can add logarithms at three.

For $n\ge 2$ and ${\lambda }_n>0$, this Landau free energy has mean-field critical exponents $\beta =1/[2(n-1)]$ and $\alpha =(n-2)/(n-1)$ when $r$ crosses zero linearly with temperature. For $n>2$, obtaining this behavior requires tuning the lower even interactions to zero.

A first-order phase transition has a discontinuity in a first derivative of the equilibrium free energy, such as entropy or the order parameter; a thermal first-order transition normally has latent heat. At a continuous phase transition the order parameter goes continuously to zero and there is no latent heat, although response functions and higher derivatives of the free energy can be singular.

For the symmetric scalar Landau free energy at zero conjugate field, minimizeIf $u>0$, the sixth-order term is unnecessary near $r=0$. For $r>0$ the minimum is $M=0$, whereas for $r<0$ there are two symmetry-related minima with $M^2=-r/u$ to leading order. The order parameter vanishes continuously as $r\uparrow 0$. The equilibrium free-energy density changes from zero to $-r^2/(4u)$, so its first temperature derivative is continuous and its second derivative has a jump. This is the ordinary mean-field continuous phase transition.

If $u<0$, keep $v>0$ for stability. A nonzero stationary order parameter, with $s=M^2$, obeys $r+us+v{s}^2=0$. For phase coexistence with $M=0$ its free energy must also vanish. Substituting $r=-us-v{s}^2$ into $V$ givesThe nonzero solution of $V=0$ is thereforeThe competing minima exchange stability at positive $r_t$, with a finite jump of the order parameter. This is a first-order phase transition. The metastability region is also visible: nonzero stationary points first appear at the spinodal $r=u^2/(4v)$, and the disordered local minimum loses stability at $r=0$.

For example, holding $u,v$ fixed and taking $r=a(T-T_0)$, the ordered phase has entropy lower than the disordered phase by $a{M}_t^2/2$ at coexistence. Heating through the transition absorbs latent heat per volume $T_{t}a{M}_t^2/2$. More generally the temperature dependence of all coefficients contributes to this entropy difference. With no inversion symmetry, a cubic term can also produce a first-order phase transition, as comparison of the competing minima of the Landau free energy shows.