Partial integration and local mean-field approach for a vector lattice model of microemulsions

A vector model on the simple cubic lattice, describing a mixture of water, oil, and amphiphile, is considered. An integration over the amphiphile orientational degrees of freedom is performed exactly in order to obtain an effective Hamiltonian for the system. The resulting model is a three-state (spin-1) system and contains many-site interaction terms. The analysis of the ground state reveals the presence of the water–oil-rich phase as well as the amphiphile-rich and the cubic phases. The temperature phase diagram of the system is analyzed in a local mean-field approach, and a triple line of water-rich, oil-rich, and microemulsion coexistence is obtained. For some values of the model parameters, lamellar phases also appear in the system, but only at finite temperature. The Lifshitz line is determined in a semianalytical way in order to locate the microemulsion region of the disordered phase.