Abstract
The van der Waals (VDW) equation of state is a simple and popular model to describe the pressure function in equilibrium systems of particles with both repulsive and attractive interactions. This equation predicts the existence of a first-order liquid-gas phase transition and contains a critical point. Two steps to extend the VDW equation and make it appropriate for new physical applications are carried out in this paper: (i) the grand canonical ensemble formulation and (ii) the inclusion of the quantum statistics. The VDW equation with Fermi statistics is then applied to a description of the system of interacting nucleons. The VDW parameters and are fixed to reproduce the properties of nuclear matter at saturation density and zero temperature. The model predicts a location of the critical point for the symmetric nuclear matter at temperature MeV and nucleon number density .
- Received 14 April 2015
- Revised 1 June 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.91.064314
©2015 American Physical Society