Large droplets grow at the expense of small ones via diffusion through the matrix
Droplets: — | Mean radius: — | t = 0
1.5
2.0
60
LSW theory (Lifshitz-Slyozov 1961, Wagner 1961): in a two-phase system, small droplets dissolve
while large ones grow. The Gibbs-Thomson effect gives the droplet interface concentration as
c = c∞ exp(2γΩ/kTr) ≈ c∞(1 + r*/r), creating a diffusion gradient.
LSW prediction: mean radius grows as ⟨r⟩³ ~ t (cube-root coarsening law),
and the droplet size distribution approaches a universal self-similar shape.