Molecular collisions and self-diffusion in liquids

The velocity autocorrelation function and coefficient of self-diffusion are derived for a hard-sphere fluid. An earlier quasi-lattice model of self-diffusion in liquids is re-examined and a less restrictive expression for the self-diffusion coefficient is derived. The coefficient of self-diffusion of a light or heavy isotope in the normal liquid is considered both for hard spheres and in the quasi-lattice approximation. An experiment is proposed to clarify the nature of the isotope effect in self-diffusion.