Thermodynamics of the surface of 4He crystals

Abstract

The conditions for applicability of the mean field theory for describing the thermodynamics of the surface of ⁴He crystals are investigated based on analysis of experimental data. It is found that although the faceting phase transition itself is a Berezinsky–Kosterlitz–Thouless phase transition, the thermodynamic potential outside a narrow neighborhood of the transition temperature can be expanded into a series in terms of the Landau theory of second-order phase transitions.