PHASE-SEPARATION IN A 3-DIMENSIONAL, 2-PHASE, HYDRODYNAMIC LATTICE-GAS

The dynamics of phase separation is explored using an immiscible 3D lattice-gas model. Scaling laws for the growth rate and power spectra S(k) of the growth patterns are computed. For small wavenumbers S(k) shows a crossover from k(2) to k(4) behavior. The theoretical prediction for the asymptotic domain growth R similar or equal to t(2/3) is supported by our results. We discuss the possibility to observe an intermediate t scaling. We show the influence of hydrodynamic forces in symmetric and asymmetric mixtures by comparing simulations with and without momentum conservation. The structure function S(k) is not significantly modified by hydrodynamics, but the growth rate changes clearly. As a general result, it is shown that, in spite of the unusual thermodynamics of this model, many characteristics of the growth dynamics are surprisingly in agreement with the classical theoretical and experimental results.