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The dynamics of the interface between an ordered phase, characterized by an order parameter, {ψ}, and a disordered phase where {ψ}=0 provide a promising, powerful tool to distinguish between continuous or second-order and weakly first-order phase transitions. We apply this idea to the nematic--smectic-A transition and find that this transition is weakly first order even when the latent heat is too small to measure.
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Cladis et al. (1989) studied this question.
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