Surface phase transitions at structured walls

Abstract: In this talk, I will present some of the most recent advances in the theory of surface phase transitions. I will first mention the main phenomenology of wetting transitions taking place at a wall-gas interface, when the wall is ideally flat. However, the main emphasis will be put on the role of the wall geometry which can induce new kinds of phase transitions and criticality. Macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic methods will be briefly introduced and illustrated for a description of fluid phase behaviour at structured model walls.