Dynamical liquid-gas phase transition

(Received 28 July 1992, accepted in final form 19 November 1993)

Abstract
We describe in detail a lattice gas model whose irreversible dynamics leads to a phase transition. Attractive and repulsive forces between particles are similar to those of our previous papers. The equilibrium properties such as the equation of state, the pressure tensor in the bulk and on interfaces, and Laplace's law are investigated numerically. Surface tension, equilibrium densities, pressure and shear viscosity are given for a catalogue of variants of the model. The surface tension is shown to vary approximately linearly : where r is the range of the attractive force. A critical liquid-gas point is expected at r_c. Shear kinematic viscosity varies like . The equilibrium density of the gas phase decreases very rapidly with r. Equilibrium densities and pressures are also shown to vary with the curvature of the interface. The dependence on inverse radius of curvature is linear as in the Gibbs-Thomson relations, but coefficients are not identical to the thermodynamic ones. These latter results on capillary effects are in agreement with those obtained in an independent work of Pot and collaborators.