Abstract
We have determined the coexistence at positive temperature between a Wigner crystal and a fluid plasma using path integral Monte Carlo. The total energies are significantly different from classical and semiclassical predictions. The location of the phase transition between liquid and solid is higher in temperature than predicted by a generalized Lindemann criterion. Some features of the phase diagram can be understood using a novel application of the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. We find a maximum melting temperature of at .
- Received 16 January 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.76.4572
©1996 American Physical Society