Spatial correlations in the electron gas: Path integral Monte Carlo simulation

Thermally excited states of the three-dimensional electron gas in a neutralizing background are computed by path integral Monte Carlo simulation for values of the Wigner-Seitz radius within the interval 5 < r _s < 15. Coulomb and exchange interactions, permutation symmetry, and spin state are treated explicitly. Variation of electron correlation functions with density and temperature is analyzed. Quantum effects suppress and enhance spatial correlation at low and high densities, respectively. Transition between the electron-gas states characterized by these opposite trends corresponds to a density of approximately 2.5 × 10²¹ cm^?3. A transition line between liquid-like and gaslike phases is determined in the temperature-density diagram. Weak anisotropy of many-body correlations in the liquid-like state stimulates excitation of spherically symmetric collective rotational modes. The effective short-range pseudopotential exhibits strong temperature dependence due to exchange effects. For strongly correlated systems, the characteristic screening length deviates from that predicted by the Thomas-Fermi screening model ( $ \sim \sqrt {r_s } $ ), approaching a linear function of r _s. The effective short-range interaction substantially differs from the Yukawa potential in mean field theory. Coulomb interaction shifts the Fermi level up by an order of magnitude or higher, and this effect becomes stronger with decreasing density.     

Computer simulation of molecular complexes H<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Superscript>+</Superscript>(H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O)<Subscript>n</Subscript> under conditions of thermal fluctuations: I. Interactions in the system

The simplest pair model of intermolecular interactions fails to reproduce known experimental free energy and entropy of hydration of H₃O⁺ ions in water vapor. A fit to experiment is attained only when covalent bonds and nonpair interactions, which are of particular importance at contact distances from the ion, are taken into account. An interaction model was constructed, which allows the experimental free energies of cluster formation to be reproduced to fractions of k _B T by the Monte-Carlo method. Numerical values of interaction parameters were obtained by fitting simulated results to refined experimental data.Translated from Zhurnal Obshchei Khimii, Vol. 74, No. 9, 2004, pp. 1409–1417.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Shevkunov.This revised version was published online in April 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Adsorption of Water Vapor on the AgI Surface: A Computer Experiment

Deposition of water molecules on a fragment of the β-AgI crystal surface was studied by computer simulation. The free energy, entropy, and work of formation of condensate nuclei on the support without crystal defects and in the presence of a point defect (excessive ion on the surface) were calculated. The monomolecular water layer is formed on the support surface from water vapor with the pressure exceeding the threshold level (about 20% of saturated vapor pressure). Spots of the monomolecular layer are formed in the vicinity of point crystal defects at pressures considerably lower than the threshold level and remain stable under these conditions.     

Nucleation of water vapor in microcracks on the surface of β-AgI aerosol particles: 1. The structure of nuclei

The precrystallization stage of nucleation of the condensed phase in wedge-shaped microcracks on the surface of β-AgI crystal at 260 K is studied by the Monte Carlo method. The microcrack field has a strong polarizing effect on the nucleus inducing the electrostatic forces of repulsion of molecules inside the nucleus and their attraction to the surface of microcrack walls. The growth of the nucleus in the microcrack passes through a stage of compaction, which is absent for the nuclei growing on the ideal surface. Microcrack surfaces stimulate, on the one hand, the formation of multilayered structures already at the earlier stage of clusterization and, on the other hand, the decomposition of the nucleus into unbound clusters whose main elements are six-and four-membered cycles. The β-AgI substrate shifts the equilibrium in small clusters from cubic to hexagonal symmetry. The analysis of the formation conditions of the known modifications of crystal and amorphous ice renders improbable the emergence of amorphous forms on the surface at the temperature studied; however, this allows us to consider the crystallization of nuclei to ice XI in the presence of microcracks as the probable event.     

Nucleation of water vapor in microcracks on the surface of β-AgI aerosol particles: 2. Thermodynamics of nucleation

Free energy, entropy, and the work of formation of condensation nuclei at 260 K in microcracks of β-AgI crystal structure at the initial stage of nucleation preceding crystallization are calculated by the Monte Carlo method. Unlike ideal crystal surface, nuclei in microcracks are thermodynamically stable and the barrier of free energy of nucleation is absent. Conditions of microcrack are favorable for the crystallization that qualitatively changes the regime and rate of nucleation. Stable size of nuclei at the humidity corresponding to natural atmosphere is sufficient for the filling of nanoscopic microcracks and the attainment of substrate surface. The probability of nucleus formation in microcracks by the fluctuation mechanism is incomparably higher than the probability of their formation on the defect-free surface. High crystallization ability of the particles of βAgI aerosol is ensured by multiple surface microcracks acting as active sites in combination with its complementary crystal structure. The efficiency of aerosols as stimulants of the nucleation of water vapor at negative Celsius temperatures is determined by the surface density and geometry of nanoscopic cracks and fissures on the particle surface.     

Computer Simulation of Water Clusterization on Chlorine Ions: 2. Microstructure

The molecular structure of Cl^–(H₂O) _n clusters, n = 1–60, in equilibrium with vapor, and the cluster with n = 500 was studied by the Monte Carlo method. The first hydrated layer of a cluster is formed in unsaturated water vapors. The second hydrated layer begins to be formed in saturated vapor. The position of hydrated layers is not changed with an increase in cluster size and coincides with the position of the hydrated layers of ions in aqueous solutions of weak electrolytes. Orientational order in a cluster also has the layered structure. The orientation of molecules between the layers is random. The stability of the first layer is ensured only due to direct interactions with ions, whereas the stability of subsequent layers is due to cooperative interactions between molecules and between molecules and ions. As temperature decreases, the effect of ion displacement to the cluster surface becomes stronger.     

Determination of three-photon ionization cross sections of xenon atoms from comparison with electron ionization

Multiphoton and electron-impact ionization of a gas-dynamic beam of xenon atoms are compared in order to determine the effective multiphoton ionization cross sections. The three-photon ionization cross section of the xenon atom is determined.     

Crisis of stability of hydration shell of Na<Superscript>+</Superscript> ion in condensing water vapor

The Gibbs energy and equilibrium work of the formation of nuclei of the condensed phase on sodium ions are calculated on the molecular level by a Monte Carlo simulation using a detailed interaction model. The stationary rate of nucleation is estimated based on the data obtained. The presence of ionic impurities only substantially affects the rate of nucleation at strong vapor supersaturation. The nucleus losses its thermodynamic stability with an increase in the size of the nucleus and the barrier is formed depending on the work of formation on the size of the nucleus. An abrupt loss of stability is accompanied by pushing the ion off of the microdroplet surface and the restoration of the network of hydrogen bonds. The effect of pushing an ion to the surface of a cluster greatly depends on many-particle polarization interactions.