Thermodynamic curvature of soft-sphere fluids and solids

A. C. Brańka, S. Pieprzyk, and D. M. Heyes
Phys. Rev. E 97, 022119 – Published 13 February 2018

Abstract

The influence of the strength of repulsion between particles on the thermodynamic curvature scalar R for the fluid and solid states is investigated for particles interacting with the inverse power (rn) potential, where r is the pair separation and 1/n is the softness. Exact results are obtained for R in certain limiting cases, and the R behavior determined for the systems in the fluid and solid phases. It is found that in such systems the thermodynamic curvature can be positive for very soft particles, negative for steeply repulsive (or large n) particles across almost the entire density range, and can change sign between negative and positive at a certain density. The relationship between R and the form of the interaction potential is more complex than previously suggested, and it may be that R is an indicator of the relative importance of energy and entropy contributions to the thermodynamic properties of the system.

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  • Received 31 October 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.97.022119

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsGeneral Physics

Authors & Affiliations

A. C. Brańka1,*, S. Pieprzyk1,†, and D. M. Heyes2,‡

  • 1Institute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Smoluchowskiego 17, 60-179 Poznań, Poland
  • 2Department of Physics, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom

  • *branka@ifmpan.poznan.pl
  • pieprzyk@ifmpan.poznan.pl
  • david.heyes@rhul.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 97, Iss. 2 — February 2018

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