PSEUDO-FIRST-ORDER PHASE TRANSITION IN ONE DIMENSION

A study is made of the one-dimensional Landau-Ginzburg system with Ψ^6 term, a model of the first-order phase transition. Fluctuations are taken into account by means of the WKB method. It is pointed out that the first-order phase transition is smeared by the formation of soliton or domain walls between two coexisting phases. This supports the Landau-Lifschitz argument that phase transition is impossible in one dimension.A study is made of the one-dimensional Landau-Ginzburg system with Ψ^6 term, a model of the first-order phase transition. Fluctuations are taken into account by means of the WKB method. It is pointed out that the first-order phase transition is smeared by the formation of soliton or domain walls between two coexisting phases. This supports the Landau-Lifschitz argument that phase transition is impossible in one dimension