Line tension

The line tension ($\tau$) is attributed to the contact line ${\mathcal {L}}_{\alpha \beta \gamma }$ along which three interfaces for the three thermodynamic phases, $\alpha$, $\beta$ and $\gamma$ meet. It is defined as the line contribution to the grand potential per unit length of the contact line.

See also

• Surface tension
• Boundary tension
• Droplets

References

• L. Schimmele, M. Napiórkowski and S. Dietrich "Conceptual aspects of line tensions", Journal of Chemical Physics 127 164715 (2007)
• Mantu Santra and Biman Bagchi "Line tension of a two dimensional gas-liquid interface", Journal of Chemical Physics 131 084705 (2009)