Polar molecular field ($h_i=\delta F/\delta p_i$)

The polar molecular field is the functional derivative of the free energy with respect to the polar order parameter. In the positive-derivative convention, dissipative dynamics is $D_t\mathbf{p}=-\Gamma \mathbf{h}$ with positive kinetic coefficient. For a quartic local term and an isotropic gradient penalty,Some authors instead define the molecular field with a minus sign, which changes the associated stress and evolution conventions.