Past exam of the quantum condensed matter course of the University of Cambridge / 2006 / Section A / A2 / a

For equal-size molecules, let $f$ be the mixing Helmholtz free energy per lattice site. Flory–Huggins solution theory reduces to the regular solution model:The first two terms are minus the combinatorial entropy of mixing; the last is the excess cost of unlike contacts. A positive Flory interaction parameter penalizes such contacts. Additive terms linear in composition change the chosen pure-component reference but do not change stability.

A small composition fluctuation at fixed mean composition costs energy proportional to $f^{\prime \prime }$. Thus local stability requires $f^{\prime \prime }>0$, and the spinodal isInside this curve, $f^{\prime \prime }<0$ and arbitrarily small composition fluctuations grow. The minimum of ${\chi }_s$ is at $\varphi =1/2$, giving the critical value ${\chi }_c=2$. At the thermodynamic critical point, $f^{(2)}=f^{(3)}=0$ while $f^{(4)}>0$.

For $\chi =0$, $f$ is strictly convex with its minimum at $1/2$. At $\chi =2$, the central quadratic term vanishes but a positive quartic term remains. At $\chi =2.5$, there are two minima and a central maximum; the spinodal compositions are $(1\pm \sqrt{1-2/\chi })/2\simeq 0.2764,0.7236$. The common-tangent construction gives coexisting compositions ${\varphi }_b\simeq 0.1448$ and $1-{\varphi }_b$, satisfying $\ln [{\varphi }_b/(1-{\varphi }_b)]+\chi (1-2{\varphi }_b)=0$. Between a binodal endpoint and the spinodal, the homogeneous state is locally stable but metastable; global stability requires the convex envelope of $f$.