Abstract
The phase diagram of two-dimensional continuous particle systems is studied using the event-chain Monte Carlo algorithm. For soft disks with repulsive power-law interactions with , the recently established hard-disk melting scenario () holds: a first-order liquid-hexatic and a continuous hexatic-solid transition are identified. Close to , the coexisting liquid exhibits very long orientational correlations, and positional correlations in the hexatic are extremely short. For , the liquid-hexatic transition is continuous, with correlations consistent with the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young (KTHNY) scenario. To illustrate the generality of these results, we demonstrate that Yukawa particles likewise may follow either the KTHNY or the hard-disk melting scenario, depending on the Debye-Hückel screening length as well as on the temperature.
- Received 2 July 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.035702
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