Shear-induced transition to mean-field critical behavior

Abstract

Light scattering was used to study the influence of a shear S on the critical fluctuations (lifetime τ) of a binary fluid (cyclohexane-aniline). For the first time we experimentally show that in the region Sτ > 1 (i) the critical temperature is actually changed ΔT c(S) ∝ S0.53±0.03 and (ii) the susceptibility measured in the flow direction crosses over to a mean-field behavior. These points confirm both the reduction and the anisotropy of the fluctuations induced by the shear.