Spinodal phase decomposition with dissipative fluid dynamics

The spinodal amplification of density fluctuations is treated perturbatively within dissipative fluid dynamics including not only shear and bulk viscosity but also heat conduction, as well as a gradient term in the local pressure. The degree of spinodal amplification is calculated along specific dynamical phase trajectories and the results suggest that the effect can be greatly enhanced by tuning the collision energy so that maximum compression occurs inside the region of spinodal instability.