Nucleation and growth in shock-induced phase transitions and how they determine wave profile features.

Wave profile measurement and interpretation play a central role in shock physics research. We propose an approach to revealing the direct link between the wave profile and nucleation and growth process in shock-induced phase transition. Through phase field simulations, we show for the first time that it is possible to explain experimentally measured wave profiles directly from the viewpoint of nucleation and growth, and constrain from such profiles real nucleation and growth scenarios that are otherwise impossible to study.