Hysteresis in capillary condensation of gases in disordered porous solids

We present a unifying theoretical approach of hysteresis phenomena associated with capillary condensation of gases in disordered mesoporous solids. We show that the shape of the hysteresis loop is influenced by out-of-equilibrium transitions that differ on filling and on draining. We make the connection with the zero-temperature theoretical studies of magnetization-reversal hysteresis and of driven interfaces in disordered media. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.