Abstract
We show that the length scale , which appears in the interfacial binding potential of the effective Hamiltonian description of wetting transitions, should be identified with the ‘‘true’’ or exponential range of the pair-correlation function of the bulk (wetting) phase, rather than the Ornstein-Zernike (second-moment) bulk correlation length . Since >, this implies that the parameter ω=T/4πΣ̃, which determines the values of critical exponents for critical wetting in three dimensions, is significantly smaller than initial estimates of this quantity. For the simple-cubic Ising model (α≊1.46 for T≳, the roughening temperature, and depending on the magnitude of the interfacial stiffness Σ̃, we conclude ω≲0.5 is appropriate for such temperatures. We discuss the implications for recent Monte Carlo studies of critical wetting.
- Received 26 September 1991
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.45.3823
©1992 American Physical Society