Kink localization under asymmetric double-well potentials

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2012 Oct;86(4 Pt 1):041111. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.86.041111. Epub 2012 Oct 8.

Abstract

We study diffuse phase interfaces under asymmetric double-well potential energies with degenerate minima and demonstrate that the limiting sharp profile, for small interface energy cost, on a finite space interval is in general not symmetric and its position depends exclusively on the second derivatives of the potential energy at the two minima (phases). We discuss an application of the general result to porous media in the regime of solid-fluid segregation under an applied pressure and describe the interface between a fluid-rich and a fluid-poor phase.