  The phase separation between two immiscible liquids advected by a
bidimensional velocity field is investigated numerically by solving the
corresponding Cahn-Hilliard equation. We study how the spinodal decomposition
process depends on the presence -or absence- of Lagrangian chaos. A fully
chaotic flow, in particular, limits the growth of domains and for unequal
volume fractions of the liquids, a characteristic exponential distribution of
droplet sizes is obtained. The limiting domain size results from a balance
between chaotic mixing and spinodal decomposition, measured in terms of
Lyapunov exponent and diffusivity constant, respectively.

Statistical Mechanics