We consider how first-order phase transitions in systems having more than one conserved charge (multicomponent systems) differ from those in systems having only one. In general, the properties of the transition are quite different in the two cases. Perhaps most importantly the pressure varies continuously with the proportion of phases in equilibrium, and is not a constant in the mixed phase as in the example of the gas-liquid transition in familiar one-component systems. We identify the microphysics responsible for the difference. In the case that one of the conserved charges is the electric charge, a geometrical structure in the mixed phase is expected. As an example, possible consequences are developed for the structure of a neutron star in which the transition to quark matter in the core occurs. It is also pointed out that the general results pertain to relativistic nuclear collisions in the so-called stopping or baryon-rich domain where there are three conserved charges (baryon, electric, and strangeness), and impact the expected phase transition from confined hadronic matter to quark matter as regards signals that are supposedly driven by pressure. The physics discussed here is also relevant to the subunclear gas-liquid transition that is under study in lower-energy nuclear collisions.

• Received 25 March 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.46.1274