Origin of similarity of phase diagrams in amphiphilic and colloidal systems with competing interactions

Abstract

We show that amphiphilic and colloidal systems with competing interactions can be described by the same Landau–Brazovskii functional. The functional is obtained by a systematic coarse-graining procedure applied to systems with isotropic interaction potentials. Microscopic expressions for the coefficients in the functional are derived. We propose simple criteria to distinguish the effective interparticle potentials that can lead to macro- or microsegregation. Our considerations also concern charged globular proteins in aqueous solutions and other systems with effective short-range attraction long-range repulsion interactions.