Heat capacity of square-well fluids of variable width

We have obtained by Monte Carlo NVT simulations the constant-volume excess heat capacity of square-well fluids for several temperatures, densities and potential widths. Heat capacity is a thermodynamic property much more sensitive to the accuracy of a theory than other thermodynamic quantities, such as the compressibility factor. This is illustrated by comparing the reported simulation data for the heat capacity with the theoretical predictions given by the Barker-Henderson perturbation theory as well as with those given by a non-perturbative theoretical model based on Baxter's solution of the Percus-Yevick integral equation for sticky hard spheres. Both theories give accurate predictions for the equation of state. By contrast, it is found that the Barker-Henderson theory strongly underestimates the excess heat capacity for low to moderate temperatures, whereas a much better agreement between theory and simulation is achieved with the non-perturbative theoretical model, particularly for small well widths, although the accuracy of the latter worsens for high densities and low temperatures, as the well width increases.     

Dissipative dynamics for hard spheres

The dynamics for a system of hard spheres with dissipative collisions is described at the levels of statistical mechanics, kinetic theory, and simulation. The Liouville operator(s) and associated binary scattering operators are defined as the generators for time evolution in phase space. The BBGKY hierarchy for reduced distribution functions is given, and an approximate kinetic equation is obtained that extends the revised Enskog theory to dissipative dynamics. A Monte Carlo simulation method to solve this equation is described, extending the Bird method to the dense, dissipative hard-sphere system. A practical kinetic model for theoretical analysis of this equation also is proposed. As an illustration of these results, the kinetic theory and the Monte Carlo simulations are applied to the homogeneous cooling state of rapid granular flow.     

方阱链流体在固液界面分布的密度泛函理论研究

应用Yethiraj的加权密度近似泛函理论研究平板狭缝中方阱链流体的密度分布，系统的Helm holtz自由能泛函分为理想气体的贡献利剩余贡献两部分，其中剩余贡献部分分别采用刘洪 来等人建立的基于空穴相关函数的方阱链流体状态方程和Gil-Villegas等人提出的统计缔合 流体理论状态方程(SAFT-VR)结合简单加权密度近似计算.考察了不同链长、温度、系统密度 和壁面吸引强度下平板狭缝中方阱链流体的密度分布，并与Monte Carlo(MC)模拟结果进行 了比较.结果表明采用不同的状态方程对密度分布的计算有明显的影响，对于受限于硬壁狭 缝中的方阱链流体，温度和密度比较高时，两种状态方程计算的结果均与MC模拟符合得比较 好，在低温和低密度下效果变差，SAFT-VR方程的计算结果更接近于MC模拟结果.对于受限于 方阱壁狭缝中的方阱链流体，由于系统密度分布的非均匀性加强，采用两种状态方程计算的 结果均与MC模拟结果有一定偏差，寻找更合适的权重函数是进一步改进的关键. 关键词： 密度泛函理论 非均匀流体 密度分布 固液界面 方阱链     

Island nucleation in thin-film epitaxy: A first-principles investigation

We describe a theoretical study of the role of adsorbate interactions in island nucleation and growth, using Ag/Pt(111) heteroepitaxy as an example. From density-functional theory, we obtain the substrate-mediated Ag adatom pair interaction and we find that, past the short range, a repulsive ring is formed about the adatoms. The magnitude of the repulsion is comparable to the diffusion barrier. In kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the repulsive interactions lead to island densities over an order of magnitude larger than those predicted by nucleation theory and thus identify a severe limitation of its applicability.     

Equilibrium properties of hard non-sphere fluids

Derivation of the thermodynamic properties of fluids of hard non-spherical molecules of arbitrary symmetry is based on the decoupling approximation. Theoretical expressions are given and calculations made for the equation of state and virial coefficients for hard ellipsoids. These results are compared with Monte Carlo values and show fair agreement in all cases. The theoretical predictions for the equation of state for binary mixtures are compared with the Monte Carlo results for hard spheres and hard prolate spherocylinders. Theoretical expressions for the first order quantum correction to the free energy, pressure and virial coefficients are also given. The quantum effects increase with increase of density and with increase of anisotropy parameter.     

The correlations in a star molecule fluid. Integral equation theory and Monte Carlo study

The structure of a starlike molecule (SLM) fluid with four arms of different length is studied by applying the associative Percus–Yevick integral equation (IE) theory and canonical Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. In the IE study the SLM fluid is modelled by a fluid of hard spheres with four associative sites on each sphere while the MC has been performed for a freely-joined tangent hard sphere fluid. The total radial distribution functions have been calculated in both approaches for different volume fraction regimes and different arm lengths. It is shown that the associative IE theory predicts the structure of SLM fluid best for relatively long arms and at high densities. Additionally, the dependence of the SLM centre–centre correlations on the functionality and fluid particle density has been analysed using the MC results.     

Effect of ionic size on the structure of spherical double layers: a Monte Carlo simulation and density functional theory study

The effect of ionic size on the diffuse layer characteristics of a spherical double layer is studied using Monte Carlo simulation and density functional theory within the restricted primitive model. The macroion is modelled as an impenetrable charged hard sphere carrying a uniform surface charge density, surrounded by the small ions represented as charged hard spheres and the solvent is taken as a dielectric continuum. The density functional theory uses a partially perturbative scheme, where the hard sphere contribution to the one particle correlation function is evaluated using weighted density approximation and the ionic interactions are calculated using a second-order functional Taylor expansion with respect to a bulk electrolyte. The Monte Carlo simulations have been performed in the canonical ensemble. The detailed comparison is made in terms of zeta potentials for a wide range of physical conditions including different ionic diameters. The zeta potentials show a maximum or a minimum with respect to the polyion surface charge density for a divalent counterion. The ionic distribution profiles show considerable variations with the concentration of the electrolyte, the valency of the ions constituting the electrolyte, and the ionic size. This model study shows clear manipulations of ionic size and charge correlations in dictating the overall structure of the diffuse layer.     

Structural and thermodynamic properties of the restricted primitive model electrolyte in a mixture with uncharged hard spheres: a grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation and integral equation study

A restricted primitive model electrolyte in a mixture with uncharged hard spheres was studied at room temperature using grand canonical Monte Carlo computer simulation and Ornstein–Zernike integral equation theory in the hypernetted chain approximation (HNC). The mean spherical approximation results are also presented for a few cases. We obtained the pair distribution functions of species of the system, the dependencies of the total fluid density and the ionic fraction on the chemical potentials, the excess internal energy and the heat capacity at constant volume for a wide range of chemical potentials of the species from the simulations and HNC theory. In the majority of cases, good agreement between the theoretical predictions and simulation data is obtained. The composition of the mixture is determined by the chemical potentials of both species. The pair distribution functions have a Debye-like shape at low densities for various values of the ion fraction. By increasing the chemical potential of the uncharged component, weak trends for structuring of the solution are observed with the formation of ion-hard sphere-ion complexes. At high densities, a tendency for in-phase oscillations of ion–ion functions is observed similar to the pure electrolyte in the restricted primitive model. We analysed the chemical potential–density and the chemical potential–ion fraction projections of the equation of state in detail. Also, the heat capacity at constant volume has been calculated for the first time. The model and the results are useful for the development of the theory of inhomogeneous fluid mixtures.     

Fluid in contact with semipermeable vesicle: second-order integral equation approach

Secondorder Ornstein–Zernike integral equations in conjunction with the Lovett–Mou–Buff–Wertheim equation for the density profile are used to investigate a mixture of hard spheres in contact with a semipermeable membrane of spherical symmetry. Theoretical predictions are compared with grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations for several parameters, and reasonable agreement has been found. The pair functions for the systems considered are also determined and discussed.     

Radial Distribution Functions for Molecules in the Universal Equation of State Model for Gaseous/Fluid/Condensed Systems

Analytical expressions and a numerical method for calculation of distribution functions of hard spheres gij(r) based on inverting the Laplace transform for functions rgij(r) obtained from the Percus—Yevick equation are obtained. The method for calculation of radial distribution functions is applicable for any distances between hard spheres; it is verified by comparison of numerical results and Monte Carlo simulations. The application of the developed method for calculation of the radial distribution functions of metal atoms is demonstrated. Distribution functions are required to construct a universal theoretical model of equation of state capable of describing both dense multicomponent gas and condensed substances (liquid or solid phases) with high accuracy which is substantially faster than computer experiments (Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics methods).     

Studies of a primitive model of mixtures of nonpolar molecules with water

The paper presents calculations of the properties of binary mixtures of hard spheres and directionally associating hard spheres, a simple model for mixtures of nonpolar molecules with water that was developed by Nezbeda and his coworkers. Extensive results from Monte Carlo simulations in the isobaric, isothermal ensemble are presented for the density, configurational energy and chemical potentials in the mixtures for fluid states over a range of temperatures, pressures and compositions. A species exchange technique is used to compute the chemical potential difference between components in the mixtures. The results obtained are compared with the predictions of first-order thermodynamic perturbation theory (TPT). It is found that this theory provides an accurate picture of the system over most of the conditions considered. Calculations are also made of vapour–liquid coexistence for the model using TPT and calculations of solid–fluid coexistence for the model using TPT and existing results for the free energy of the pure component solids. It is found that the vapour–liquid coexistence for the model is pre-empted by the solid–fluid coexistence, as had previously been found for the pure component directionally associating hard sphere system.     

Thermodynamics of pseudo-hard body mixtures

Thermodynamic properties of binary mixtures of hard spheres of various size and pseudo-hard bodies, mimicking the short-range non-additive repulsive interactions in realistic models of water, have been determined over the entire concentration range using standard NVT Monte Carlo simulations. Virial coefficients of the mixture have also been computed. Having no other theoretical tool currently available, a perturbed virial expansion is examined with respect to its potential to estimate/predict the properties of the mixture without resorting to any fitting of simulation data. The perturbed virial expansion is found to perform quite accurately for the mixtures containing larger spheres, whereas for small spheres dissolved in water the result is only qualitatively correct.     

Monte Carlo study of the equimolar mixture of hard spheres and spherocylinders

Using the Monte Carlo simulation technique the behaviour of the equimolar mixture of hard spheres and prolate spherocylinders of the length-to-breadth ratio equal to two was studied for the case in which both components had the same breadth. The surface-to-surface and the center-to-center correlation functions and the compressibility factor were computed and the results compared with theoretical predictions. Effect of non-sphericity of one component is shortly discussed.     

An application of cell theory to molecular models of n-alkane solids

Solid phase properties for hard sphere chain molecular models of n-alkanes are calculated using the cell theory, and a numerical method for implementation of cell theory for chain molecules is described. Good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations for solid phase properties is obtained from the theory. By using cell theory for the solid phase and an equation of state for the fluid phase, solid-phase equilibrium can be calculated. The predictions are in quite good agreement with Monte Carlo simulation results. Cell theory is used to assess the impact of an approximate treatment used in earlier work for the effect of the temperature dependence of the molecular flexibility upon the solid phase properties of a hard chain model with a realistic torsional potential.     

Second-order Percus-Yevick theory for a confined hard-sphere fluid

A fluid of hard spheres confined between two hard walls and in equilibrium with a bulk hard-sphere fluid is studied using a second-order Percus-Yevick approximation. We refer to this approximation as second-order because the correlations that are calculated depend upon the position of two hard spheres in the confined fluid. However, because the correlation functions depend upon the positions of four particles (two hard spheres and two walls treated as giant hard spheres), this is the most demanding application of the second-order theory that has been attempted. When the two walls are far apart, this calculation reduces to our earlier second-order approximation calculations of the properties of hard spheres near a single hard wall. Our earlier calculations showed this approach to be accurate for the single-wall case. In this work we calculate the density profiles and the pressure of the hard-sphere fluid on the walls. We find, by comparison with grand canonical Monte Carlo results, that the second-order approximation is very accurate, even when the two walls have a small separation. We compare with a singlet approximation (in the sense that correlation functions that depend on the position of only one hard sphere are considered). The singlet approach is fairly satisfactory when the two walls are far apart but becomes unsatisfactory when the two walls have a small separation. We also examine a simple theory of the pressure of the confined hard spheres, based on the usual Percus-Yevick theory of hard-sphere mixtures. Given the simplicity of the latter approach the results of this simple (and explicit) theory are surprisingly good.     

An effective Monte Carlo calculation of the radial distribution function of hard spheres on a minicomputer

An algorithm that utilizes the advantage of a machine language and integer arithmetic is proposed for the Monte Carlo simulations of the radial distribution function of fluid hard spheres. The influence of integer arithmetic upon the accuracy of results is discussed. The method can be easily adapted for more complicated potentials.     

Mixtures of hard spherocylinders and hard spheres

Monte Carlo simulations have been performed for equimolar mixtures of hard prolate spherocylinders of length: breadth ratio 2:1 and hard spheres, in the fluid region. Two systems have been studied. In the first the breadth of the spherocylinder was equal to the hard sphere diameter, and in the second system both components were of equal molecular volume.

The compressibility factor, PV/NkT, has been obtained for both mixtures at four reduced densities (packing fractions) from 0·20 to 0·45. The results have been compared with the predictions of several analytical equations appropriate to mixtures of hard convex molecules, and an equation due to Pavlicek et al. was found to be very accurate. The results have been used to calculate the excess volumes of mixing at constant pressure, in an attempt to establish the relative importance of the effects of differences in molecular volume and shape on the thermodynamic properties.

The structural properties of the mixtures have also been investigated by calculating pair distribution functions for the three types of pair interactions present in these mixtures.     

Many-body GW calculations of ground-state properties: quasi-2D electron systems and van der Waals forces

We present GW many-body results for ground-state properties of two simple but very distinct families of inhomogeneous systems in which traditional implementations of density-functional theory (DFT) fail drastically. The GW approach gives notably better results than the well-known random-phase approximation, at a similar computational cost. These results establish GW as a superior alternative to standard DFT schemes without the expensive numerical effort required by quantum Monte Carlo simulations.