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Journal of Low Temperature Physics

Wetting Transitions and Tricriticality in a Three-Component Bose–Einstein Condensate

Hoàng Văn Quyết

Published Jan 7, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The interfacial phenomena in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates include a rich variety of wetting transitions. Previous studies of a wall-less, three-component system have primarily fo-cused on the continuous (critical) wetting transition, leaving the phase diagram incomplete. In this work, we present a complete theoretical description of this system at zero temperature based on the Gross-Pitaevskii theory and a semi-analytical double-parabola approximation. We derive the analytical conditions for both discontinuous (first-order) and continuous (critical) wetting transitions by calculating the grand potential and the associated interfacial tensions. Synthesizing these results, we construct the complete wetting phase diagram and, crucially, identify the tricritical point where the first-order and critical transition lines meet. This complete phase diagram provides a quantitative roadmap for future experiments exploring complex interfacial phenomena in quantum fluids.

DOI
10.1007/s10909-025-03355-7

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Abstract The interfacial phenomena in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates include a rich variety of wetting transitions. Previous studies of a wall-less, three-component system have primarily fo-cused on the continuous (critical) wetting transition, leaving the phase diagram incomplete. In this work, we present a complete theoretical description of this system at zero temperature based on the Gross-Pitaevskii theory and a semi-analytical double-parabola approximation. We derive the analytical conditions for both discontinuous (first-order) and continuous (critical) wetting transitions by calculating the grand potential and the associated interfacial tensions. Synthesizing these results, we construct the complete wetting phase diagram and, crucially, identify the tricritical point where the first-order and critical transition lines meet. This complete phase diagram provides a quantitative roadmap for future experiments exploring complex interfacial phenomena in quantum fluids.
In previous work within Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) theory for ultracold gases, wetting phase transitions were predicted for a phase-segregated two-component Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) adsorbed at an optical wall. The wetting phase diagram was found to depend on intrinsic atomic parameters, being the masses and the scattering lengths, and on the extrinsic wall boundary condition. Here we study wetting transitions in GP theory without an optical wall in a setting with three phase-segregated BEC components instead of two. The boundary condition is removed by replacing the wall with the third component and treating the three phases on an equal footing. This leads to an unequivocal wetting phase diagram that depends only on intrinsic atomic parameters. It features first-order and critical wetting transitions, and prewetting phenomena. The phase boundaries are computed by numerical solution of the GP equations. In addition, useful analytic results are obtained by extending the established double-parabola approximation to three components.
We investigate the possibility of a critical wetting phase transition in a dilute ternary Bose-Einstein condensate using Gross-Pitaevskii theory within the framework of the double parabola approximation. By analytically determining the condensate wave functions, we derive the dependence of the surfactant layer thickness on the intrinsic atomic parameters. Our results reveal conditions under which a critical wetting transition may occur, highlighting a new aspect of interfacial phenomena in multicomponent quantum fluids.
Nucleation and wetting transitions are studied in a three-component Bose-Einstein condensate mixture within Gross-Pitaevskii theory. For special cases of intermediate segregation between components 1 and 2, the nucleation phase transition of a surfactant film of component 3 is obtained by exact solution. Additional exact results for the nucleation transition are derived in the limit of strong segregation between components 1 and 2. In this limit the exact first-order wetting phase boundary is obtained using analytical and numerical methods, and is contrasted with the exact nucleation and wetting phase boundary derived previously for a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate mixture at a hard optical wall. Exact results for the three-component mixture are compared with results from the double-parabola approximation used in an earlier work.
The possibility of wetting phase transitions in Bose-Einstein condensed gases is predicted on the basis of Gross-Pitaevskii theory. The surface of a binary mixture of Bose-Einstein condensates can undergo a first-order wetting phase transition upon varying the interparticle interactions, using, e.g., Feshbach resonances. Interesting ultra-low-temperature effects shape the wetting phase diagram. The prewetting transition is, contrary to general expectations, not of first order but critical, and the prewetting line does not meet the bulk phase coexistence line tangentially. Experimental verification of these extraordinary results is called for, especially now that it has become possible, using optical methods, to realize a planar "hard wall" boundary for the condensates.
Within Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) theory we derive the interface potential $V(\ensuremath{\ell})$ which describes the interaction between the interface separating two demixed Bose-condensed gases and an optical hard wall at a distance $\ensuremath{\ell}$. Previous work revealed that this interaction gives rise to extraordinary wetting and prewetting phenomena. Calculations that explore nonequilibrium properties by using $\ensuremath{\ell}$ as a constraint provide a thorough explanation for this behavior. We find that at bulk two-phase coexistence, $V(\ensuremath{\ell})$ for both complete wetting and partial wetting is monotonic with exponential decay. Remarkably, at the first-order wetting phase transition, $V(\ensuremath{\ell})$ is independent of $\ensuremath{\ell}$. This anomaly explains the infinite continuous degeneracy of the grand potential reported earlier. As a physical application, using $V(\ensuremath{\ell})$ we study the three-phase contact line where the interface meets the wall under a contact angle $\ensuremath{\theta}$. Employing an interface displacement model we calculate the structure of this inhomogeneity and its line tension $\ensuremath{\tau}$. Contrary to what happens at a usual first-order wetting transition in systems with short-range forces, $\ensuremath{\tau}$ does not approach a nonzero positive constant for $\ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$, but instead approaches zero (from below) in the manner $\ensuremath{\tau}\ensuremath{\propto}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\theta}$ as would be expected for a critical wetting transition. This hybrid character of $\ensuremath{\tau}$ is a consequence of the absence of a barrier in $V(\ensuremath{\ell})$ at wetting. For a typical $V(\ensuremath{\ell})=\mathcal{S}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}exp(\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\ell}/\ensuremath{\xi})$, with S\mathcal{S}S the spreading coefficient and $\ensuremath{\xi}$ a decay length, we conjecture that $\ensuremath{\tau}=\ensuremath{-}2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}(1\ensuremath{-}ln2)\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\gamma}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\xi}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}sin\ensuremath{\theta}$ is exact within GP theory, with $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ the interfacial tension and $0\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\pi}$.
We identify the adsorbed index as an experimentally accessible order parameter for the wetting phase transition in dilute ternary Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs). By tracking the nucleation and growth of a surfactant film of the third component at the interface between two immiscible condensates, we show that the adsorbed index exhibits a logarithmic divergence with the chemical-potential ratio in the prewetting phase. Numerical Gross–Pitaevskii calculations are consistent with analytical predictions from the double-parabola approximation, confirming the reliability of the approach. Unlike the conventional surfactant layer thickness, which becomes ill-defined near the nucleation point, the adsorbed index remains well defined throughout the entire prewetting-wetting regime and is directly proportional to the number of condensed atoms in the surfactant component, a quantity that is readily measurable in ultracold-atom experiments and tunable via Feshbach resonances. Our results offer a realistic opportunity to observe wetting transitions in multicomponent quantum gases.