Monte Carlo simulations of nitrogen using an ab initio potential

A new ab initio pair potential for nitrogen has been calculated at CCSD(T) level with aug-cc-pVDZ and -pVTZ correlation consistent basis sets. The results were extrapolated to approximate the basis set limit. This potential was used within Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo (GEMC) simulations to obtain the densities of the coexisting phases, the vapour pressure and the enthalpy of vaporization from 70 K to close to the critical point. The influence of several 3-body interactions (an approximate anisotropic triple dipole potential derived by Stogryn, the isotropic triple dipole potential by Axilrod and Teller (AT), and a 3-body induction potential on the above mentioned properties was investigated. Satisfactory agreement with experimental data was observed. To determine whether the remaining deviations between experimental and computed data are due to inaccuracies in the 2-body or 3-body potential, the 2-body potential was rescaled to reproduce experimental 2nd virial coefficients accurately, and some of the calculations were repeated with the new potential. It turns out that an accurate 2-body potential only in connection with the AT potential yields accurate results for the thermodynamic properties phase equilibria.     

Monte Carlo simulations of neon and argon using ab initio potentials

Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulations of neon and argon have been performed with pair potentials taken from literature as well as with new ab initio potentials from just above the triple point to close to the critical point. The densities of the coexisting phases, their pair correlation functions, the vapour pressure and the enthalpy and entropy of vaporization have been calculated. The influence of the potential choice and of the addition of the Axilrod-Teller (AT) three-body potential on the above mentioned properties have been investigated. It turns out that an accurate ab initio two-body potential in connection with the AT potential yields very good results for thermodynamic properties of phase equilibria.     

Thermodynamic properties of ternary alloys from Monte Carlo simulations

Methods are presented for obtaining both the integral and partial molar energies, entropies and free energies of the components in rigid ternary substitutional alloy systems from the one Monte Carlo simulation. Tests of the methods for some model systems are presented and discussed.     

Phase equilibrium of Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys studied by first-principles calculations and Monte Carlo simulations

The first-principles calculations based on density functional theory combined with cluster expansion techniques and Monte Carlo(MC) simulations were used to study the phase diagrams of both wurtzite(WZ) and zinc-blende(ZB)Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys.All formation energies are positive for WZ and ZB Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys,which means that the Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys are unstable and have a tendency to phase separation.For WZ and ZB Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys,the consolute temperatures are 655 K and 604 K,respectively,and they both have an asymmetric miscibility gap.We obtained the spatial distributions of Cd and Zn atoms in WZ and ZB Cd_(0.5)Zn_(0.5)S alloys at different temperatures by MC simulations.We found that both WZ and ZB phases of Cd_(0.5)Zn_(0.5)S alloy exhibit phase segregation of Cd and Zn atoms at low temperature,which is consistent with the phase diagrams.     

Intervalley scattering in GaAs: ab initio calculation of the effective parameters for Monte Carlo simulations

Interactions between excited electrons and short-wavelength (intervalley) phonons in GaAs are studied using density functional theory for the conduction bands, and density functional perturbation theory for phonon frequencies and matrix elements of the electron–phonon interaction. We have calculated the deformation potentials (DPs) and the average intervalley scattering time 〈τ〉. The integration of the scattering probabilities over all possible final states in the Brillouin zone has been performed without any ad hoc assumption about the behavior of the electron–phonon matrix elements nor the topology of the conduction band. For transitions from the L point to Γ valley (within the first conduction band), we find 〈τ〉_L to be 1.5 ps at 300 K, in good agreement with time-resolved photoluminescence experiment. We discuss the difference between our calculated DPs, and effective parameters used in Monte Carlo simulations of optical and transport properties of semiconductors. The latter are based on Conwell’s model, in which electron–phonon interaction is described by one single constant and a parabolic model is used for conduction bands. We deduce the effective DP from our 〈τ〉, and compare it to our calculated DPs. We conclude that only effective DPs obtained from a full calculation of 〈τ〉 are relevant parameters for Monte Carlo simulations. PACS 71.10-w; 72.10.Di; 71.55.Eq     

Artificial carrier heating due to the introduction of ab initio Coulomb scattering in Monte Carlo simulations

Accurately treating ionised impurity scattering in a way suitable to describe the influence of random dopant fluctuations on device characteristics is important in next generation MOSFETs. Statistical variations are unobservable using a continuous treatment of the doping, requiring a discrete representation of impurities. In particle-based simulations the P³M method, which resolves the Coulomb interaction into long- and short-range components, is in principle capable of describing Coulomb scattering through propagation in this accurately resolved potential. However, numerically the integration of the equations of motion is inaccurate and controlling the errors in practical simulations is vital. In this paper we investigate the effect of the choice of short-range correction strategy and integration time step on accuracy in a 3D self-consistent ensemble Monte Carlo simulations featuring random discrete dopants. We illustrate the importance of the ‘ab initio’ Coulomb scattering comparing the effect of a single trapped charge in drift-diffusion and Monte Carlo simulations.     

Multiscale modelling of precipitation in concentrated alloys: from atomistic Monte Carlo simulations to cluster dynamics I thermodynamics

In a recent paper, the authors showed how the clusters free energies are constrained by the coagulation probability, and explained various anomalies observed during the precipitation kinetics in concentrated alloys. This coagulation probability appeared to be a too complex function to be accurately predicted knowing only the cluster distribution in Cluster Dynamics (CD). Using atomistic Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, it is shown that during a transformation at constant temperature, after a short transient regime, the transformation occurs at quasi-equilibrium. It is proposed to use MC simulations until the system quasi-equilibrates then to switch to CD which is mean field but not limited by a box size like MC. In this paper, we explain how to take into account the information available before the quasi-equilibrium state to establish guidelines to safely predict the cluster free energies.     

Structure of ultra-thin confined alkane films from Monte Carlo simulations

Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations are reported of thin films of n-alkane confined fluids (1,4, 10 carbons) and i-decane under thermodynamic conditions away from the freezing line. All simulated solvation pressure profiles exhibit damped oscillations with a main period of oscillation equal roughly to the size of a methane, methyl or methylene bead (4-4.5 Å). This reflects an arrangement of the beads in layers parallel with the confining walls, which causes an oscillation of the local density across the film. However, the alkane molecules themselves are not arranged in perfect layers. The oscillations do not vanish for long chain and/or branched molecules: they are only attenuated. Also n-decane films have been simulated under thermodynamic conditions closer to surface force apparatus experiments. In contrast with an earlier molecular dynamics study, an overall continuous variation in the average number of decane molecules with the walls separation was found, consistent with the smooth transition towards slower relaxation and increasing rigidity with decreasing film thickness observed in some experiments. The possible origin of the discrepancy between the different simulation findings is discussed.     

Structure of phosphorus-selenium glasses: results from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations

Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics calculations have been carried out for phosphorus-selenium mixtures of compositions corresponding to overall stoichiometrics PSe and P₂Se. Comparison of the calculated structure factors with those obtained in neutron scattering experiements suggests that the real materials are characterized by the presence of substantial numbers of well defined molecular units.     

Monte Carlo simulations of high-moment - low-moment transitions in Invar alloys

We have reproduced magneto-volume effects typical for Invar alloys by examining a spin-analogous model which describes coupled spatial and magnetic degrees of freedom and, additionally, chemical disorder. Constant pressure Monte Carlo simulations of this model show an almost vanishing thermal expansion over a broad range of temperatures below ,a softening of the bulk modulus and the absence of a sharp peak in the specific heat at the magnetic phase transition as observed in Fe₆₅Ni₃₅ Invar. Received: 9 September 1996 / Revised: 23 May and 23 September 1997 / accepted: 3 September 1997     

Monte Carlo simulations of thermodynamic properties of argon,krypton and xenon in liquid and gas state using new ab initio pair potentials

The internal energies and compressibility factors of argon, krypton and xenon have been simulated using recent state-of-the-art ab initio pair intermolecular potentials and the best semi-empirical pair potentials, and the Axilrod-Teller-Muto three-body term. The results are compared with experimental data for both sub-critical and super-critical temperatures and for densities ranging up to a 2.5 multiple of the critical density. Both the ab initio and semi-empirical results for argon are in very good agreement with the experimental ones. For krypton and xenon, the ab initio results are worse than the semi-empirical results but they are still acceptable.     

Dynamical screening and ionic conductivity in water from ab initio simulations

We present a method to calculate ionic conductivities of complex fluids from ab initio simulations. This is achieved by combining density functional theory molecular dynamics simulations with polarization theory. Conductivities are then obtained via a Green-Kubo formula using time-dependent effective charges of electronically screened ions. The method is applied to two different phases of warm dense water. We observe large fluctuations in the effective charges; protons can transport effective charges greater than +e for ultrashort time scales. Furthermore, we compare our results with a simpler model of ionic conductivity in water that is based on diffusion coefficients. Our approach can be directly applied to study ionic conductivities of electronically insulating materials of arbitrary composition, e.g., complex molecular mixtures under such extreme conditions that occur deep inside giant planets.     

Anharmonic Raman spectra in high-pressure ice from ab initio simulations

We calculate from ab initio molecular dynamics the Raman scattering of high-pressure ice. To this effect we apply a new method based on the Berry phase theory of polarization. Our results are in agreement with recent and difficult experiments and are compatible with a picture in which ice VII is a proton-disordered system and in ice X the hydrogen bond is symmetric.     

A first-principles study aided with Monte Carlo simulations of carbon doped iron-manganese alloys

We have investigated the complex magnetic properties of Fe_1?x Mn _x C _y alloys by using an iterative combination of ab initio calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. The latter gives insight into finite temperature magnetism and allows to determine the critical temperature of magnetic phase transitions. We restrict the investigation to ordered systems with 25, 50 and 75% manganese and study the influence of carbon at octahedral interstitial sites on the magnetic properties. The combination of ab initio calculations with Monte Carlo simulations turns out to be a powerful tool to determine the complex magnetic structures, which originate from the competition of ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions in the FeMn alloys.     

小碳团簇结构的从头算分子动力学模拟

引入第一原理密度泛函理论, 即赝势密度泛函在实空间的有限差分方法和朗之万分子动力学退火技术, 对碳团簇Cn(n=2-8)的基态结构进行了理论计算, 所得结果与其他作者的计算结果及实验数据吻合较好.     

Monte Carlo simulations of sexual reproduction

Modifying the Redfield model of sexual reproduction and the Penna model of biological aging, we compare reproduction with and without recombination in age-structured populations. In constrast to Redfield and in agreement with Bernardes we find sexual reproduction to be preferred to asexual one. In particular, the presence of old but still reproducing males helps the survival of younger females beyond their reproductive age.