Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 344 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Apply force balance to one hemisphere. The pressure force is , while the interfacial tension around its equator gives . The Young–Laplace equation therefore yieldsTo 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.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 344 1 d Solution 2026-09-28
Put , , and . Since , the interface equation reduces toMultiplication by and use of , gives the first integralFor the increasing profile, , so after shifting . Hence the phi-four diffuse interface isThe sign chooses the orientation and the translation zero mode sets the interface position.