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The exponentially repulsive EXP pair potential defines a system of particles in terms of which simple liquids quasiuniversality may be explained [A. K. Bacher et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 5424 (2014); J. C. Dyre, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 28, 323001 (2016)]. This paper and its companion present a detailed simulation study of the EXP system. Here we study how structure monitored via the radial distribution function and dynamics monitored via the mean-square displacement as a function of time evolve along the systems isotherms and isochores. The focus is on the gas and liquid phases, which are distinguished pragmatically by the absence or presence of a minimum in the radial distribution function above its first maximum. An NVU-based proof of quasiuniversality is presented, and quasiuniversality is illustrated by showing that the structure of the Lennard-Jones system at four selected state points is well approximated by those of EXP pair-potential systems with the same reduced diffusion constant. The companion paper studies the EXP systems isomorphs, focusing also on the gas and liquid phases.
This paper continues the investigation of the exponentially repulsive EXP pair-potential system of Paper I with a focus on isomorphs in the low-temperature gas and liquid phases. As expected from the EXP systems strong virial potential-energy correlations, the systems reduced-unit structure and dynamics are isomorph invariant to a good approximation. Three methods for generating isomorphs are compared: the small-step method that is exact in the limit of small density changes and t
To study the possibility of a fluid-fluid phase transition, we analyze a three-dimensional soft-core isotropic potential for a one-component system. We utilize two independent numerical approaches, (i) integral equation in the hypernetted-chain approximation and (ii) molecular dynamics simulations, and find for both approaches a fluid-fluid phase transition as well as the conventional gas-liquid critical point. We also study the possible existence of a triple point in the supercooled fluid phase at which three phases---gas, high-density fluid, and low-density fluid---coexist.
An iterative Monte Carlo inversion method for the calculation of particle pair potentials from given particle pair correlations is proposed in this paper. The new method, which is best referred to as Iterative Ornstein-Zernike Inversion, represents a generalization and an improvement of the established Iterative Boltzmann Inversion technique [Reith, P{u}tz & M{u}ller-Plathe, J. Comput. Chem. 24, 1624 (2003)]. Our modification of Iterative Boltzmann Inversion consists of replacing the potential of mean force as an approximant for the pair potential with another, generally more accurate approximant that is based on a trial bridge function in the Ornstein-Zernike integral equation formalism. As an input, the new method requires the particle pair correlations both in real space and in the Fourier conjugate wavenumber space. An accelerated iteration method is included in the discussion, by which the required number of iterations can be greatly reduced below that of the simple Picard iteration that underlies most common implementations of Iterative Boltzmann Inversion. Comprehensive tests with various pair potentials show that the new method generally surpasses the Iterative Boltzmann Inversion method in terms of reliability of the numerical solution for the particle pair potential.
The effective pair potentials between different kinds of dendrimers in solution can be well approximated by appropriate Gaussian functions. We find that in binary dendrimer mixtures the range and strength of the effective interactions depend strongly upon the specific dendrimer architecture. We consider two different types of dendrimer mixtures, employing the Gaussian effective pair potentials, to determine the bulk fluid structure and phase behavior. Using a simple mean field density functional theory (DFT) we find good agreement between theory and simulation results for the bulk fluid structure. Depending on the mixture, we find bulk fluid-fluid phase separation (macro-phase separation) or micro-phase separation, i.e., a transition to a state characterized by undamped periodic concentration fluctuations. We also determine the inhomogeneous fluid structure for confinement in spherical cavities. Again, we find good agreement between the DFT and simulation results. For the dendrimer mixture exhibiting micro-phase separation, we observe rather striking pattern formation under confinement.
We investigate the phase behaviour of a system of particles interacting through the exp-6 pair potential, a model interaction that is appropriate to describe effective interatomic forces under high compression. The soft-repulsive component of the potential is being varied so as to study the effect on reentrant melting and density anomaly. Upon increasing the repulsion softness, we find that the anomalous melting features persist and occur at smaller pressures. Moreover, if we reduce the range of downward concavity in the potential by extending the hard core at the expenses of the soft-repulsive shoulder, the reentrant part of the melting line reduces in extent so as it does the region of density anomaly.