Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol.36, No.16, 2941-2947, 1998
Transient instability in Case II diffusion
A well-known model of one-dimensional Case II diffusion is reformulated in two dimensions. This 2-D model is used to study the stability of 1-D planar Case II diffusion to small spatial perturbations. An asymptotic solution based on the assumption of small perturbations and a small driving force is developed. This analysis reveals that while 1-D planar diffusion is indeed asymptotically stable to small spatial perturbations, it may exhibit a transient instability. That is, although any small perturbation is damped out over sufficiently long times, the amplitude of any perturbation initially grows with time.
Keywords:POLYMER