Abstract :
[en] We discuss crystallization as a non-equilibrium process. In a system of hard spheres
under compression at a constant rate, we quantify the amount of heat that is dissipated during the
crystallization process. We interpret the dissipation as arising from the resistance of the system
against phase transformation. An intrinsic compression rate is identified that separates a quasistatic
regime from one of rapidly driven crystallization. In the latter regime the system crystallizes
more easily, because new relaxation channels are opened, at the cost of forming a higher fraction of
non-equilibrium crystal structures. We rationalize the change in the crystallization mechanism by
analogy with shear thinning, in terms of a kinetic competition between near-equilibrium relaxation
and external driving.
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