While linear and curved phase transition lines in P(T) or H(T) diagrams can be described by adding linear and quadratic terms in a joint expansion of the Landau coefficients a, b in terms of P-P, and T-T, where (PI' T t ) is a critical point, a new class of phase diagram is obtained by allowing for bilinear, e(P-Pt)(T-T t), and higher product terms. In this contribution we relate these new expansion terms to some hitherto unexplained experimental P-T and H-T phase diagrams.(1) while the sufficient condition (minimum) is:we have a turnover from second to first order at T, and (Pt, Tt) therefore defines a critical point. Generally, for first order transitions a hysteresis and with it lability lines appear. In the Landau approach these result as follows: the necessary condition for equilibrium of a system which follows Eq. (1) is:(5)
(T-T t) +15(T-T t )2 b = (J(T-T t )phase transition lines are contained in the Landau coefficients a, band c. (1) describes the competition between a disordered (say, paramagnetic, "pm") state and an ordered (say, ferromagnetic, "fm") state. In the pm state, the order parameter is " = 0; in that case Eq. (3) is always fulfilled, but Eq. (4) only as long as a>O. Thus, if we have a zero crossing of a(P, T), i.e. a = 0, the stable pm state (minimum) transforms into an unstable pm state (maximum). Consequently, the fm state will now appear and with it ,,>0. ,,(P, T»O can be obtained from letting the bracket in Eq, (3) go to zero as n » 0 but condition (3) has to be fulfilled. For a first order transition, b < 0, in particular one obtains:
FundamentalsWhen one considers pressure-and temperature-dependent phase transitions in the framework of the Landau theory, in a first step one writes the thermodynamic potential rp as a function of the order parameter n: rp = a,,2 + bn" + en"