Yu. D. Fomin

Waterlike thermodynamic anomalies in a repulsive-shoulder potential system

We report a computer-simulation study of the equilibrium phase diagram of a three-dimensional system of particles with a repulsive-shoulder potential. The phase diagram was obtained using free-energy calculations. At low temperatures, we observe a number of distinct crystal phases. We show that at certain values of the potential parameters the system exhibits the waterlike thermodynamic anomalies: a density anomaly and a diffusion anomaly. The anomalies disappear with increasing the repulsive step width: more precisely, their locations move to the region where the crystalline phase is stable.

Widom line for the liquid-gas transition in Lennard-Jones system.

The locus of extrema (ridges) for heat capacity, thermal expansion coefficient, compressibility, and density fluctuations for model particle systems with Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential in the supercritical region have been obtained. It was found that the ridges for different thermodynamic values virtually merge into a single Widom line at T < 1.1T(c) and P < 1.5P(c) and become practically completely smeared at T < 2.5T(c) and P < 10P(c), where T(c) and P(c) are the critical temperature and pressure. The ridge for heat capacity approaches close to critical isochore, whereas the lines of extrema for other values correspond to density decrease. The lines corresponding to the supercritical maxima for argon and neon are in good agreement with the computer simulation data for LJ fluid. The behavior of the ridges for LJ fluid, in turn, is close to that for the supercritical van der Waals fluid, which is indicative of a fairly universal behavior of the Widom line for a liquid-gas transition.

Liquid-gas transition in the supercritical region: fundamental changes in the particle dynamics.

Recently, we have proposed a new dynamic line on the phase diagram in the supercritical region, the Frenkel line. Crossing the line corresponds to the radical changes of system properties. Here, we focus on the dynamics of model Lennard-Jones and soft-sphere fluids. We show that the location of the line can be rigorously and quantitatively established on the basis of the velocity autocorrelation function (VAF) and mean-square displacements. VAF is oscillatory below the line at low temperature, and is monotonically decreasing above the line at high temperature. Using this criterion, we show that the crossover of particle dynamics and key liquid properties occur on the same line. We also show that positive sound dispersion disappears in the vicinity of the line in both systems. We further demonstrate that the dynamic line bears no relationship to the existence of the critical point. Finally, we find that the region of existence of liquidlike dynamics narrows with the increase of the exponent of the repulsive part of interatomic potential.

Breakdown of excess entropy scaling for systems with thermodynamic anomalies

This paper presents a simulation study of the applicability of the Rosenfeld entropy scaling to the systems which cannot be approximated by the effective hard spheres. Three systems are studied: the Herzian spheres, the Gauss core model, and a soft repulsive shoulder potential. These systems demonstrate diffusion anomalies at low temperatures: the diffusion coefficient increases with increasing density or pressure. It is shown that for the first two systems belonging to a class of bounded potentials, the Rosenfeld scaling formula is valid only in the infinite-temperature limit where there are no anomalies. For the soft repulsive shoulder potential, the scaling formula is valid already at sufficiently low temperatures, however, out of the anomaly range.

Inversion of sequence of diffusion and density anomalies in core-softened systems

In this paper we present a simulation study of water-like anomalies in core-softened system introduced in our previous papers. We investigate the anomalous regions for a system with the same functional form of the potential but with different parameters and show that the order of the region of anomalous diffusion and the region of density anomaly is inverted with increasing the width of the repulsive shoulder.

Core-softened system with attraction: Trajectory dependence of anomalous behavior

In the present article we carry out a molecular dynamics study of the core-softened system and show that the existence of the water-like anomalies in this system depends on the trajectory in P-ρ-T space along which the behavior of the system is studied. For example, diffusion and structural anomalies are visible along isotherms as a function of density, but disappears along the isochores and isobars as a function of temperature. On the other hand, the diffusion anomaly may be seen along adiabats as a function of temperature, density, and pressure. It should be noted that it may be no signature of a particular anomaly along a particular trajectory, but the anomalous region for that particular anomaly can be defined when all possible trajectories in the same space are examined (for example, signature of diffusion anomaly is evident through the crossing of different isochors. However, there is no signature of diffusion anomaly along a particular isochor). We also analyze the applicability of the Rosenfeld entropy scaling relations to this system in the regions with the water-like anomalies. It is shown that the validity of the Rosenfeld scaling relation for the diffusion coefficient also depends on the trajectory in the P-ρ-T space along which the kinetic coefficients and the excess entropy are calculated.

Silicalike sequence of anomalies in core-softened systems.

We present a simulation study of density, structural, and diffusion anomalies in a core-softened system, a remarkable model liquid that exhibits anomalous properties seen in tetrahedral liquids such as silica and water. It is widely believed that core-softened potentials demonstrate waterlike sequence of anomalies. Here, we show that the order of the region of anomalous diffusion and the regions of density and structural anomalies are inverted with increasing depth of the attractive part of the potential and have silicalike sequence. We also show that the Widom line slope is negative as in water.

Complex phase behavior of the system of particles with smooth potential with repulsive shoulder and attractive well

We report a detailed simulation study of the phase behavior of core-softened system with attractive well. Different repulsive shoulder widths and attractive well depths are considered which allows to monitor the influence of repulsive and attractive forces on the phase diagram of the system. Thermodynamic anomalies in the systems are also studied. It is shown that the diffusion anomaly is stabilized by small attraction.

Evidence for structural crossover in the supercritical state

The state of matter above the critical point is terra incognita, and is loosely discussed as a physically homogeneous flowing state where no differences can be made between a liquid and a gas and where properties undergo no marked or distinct changes with pressure and temperature. In particular, the structure of supercritical state is currently viewed to be the same everywhere on the phase diagram, and to change only gradually and in a featureless way while moving along any temperature and pressure path above the critical point. Here, we demonstrate that this is not the case, but that there is a well-defined structural crossover instead. Evidenced by the qualitative changes of distribution functions of interatomic distances and angles, the crossover demarcates liquid-like and gas-like configurations and the presence of medium-range structural correlations. Importantly, the discovered structural crossover is closely related to both dynamic and thermodynamic crossovers operating in the supercritical state, providing new unexpected fundamental interlinks between the supercritical structure, dynamics, and thermodynamics.

Generalized van der Waals theory of liquid-liquid phase transitions

In the framework of the thermodynamic perturbation theory for fluids we study how the phase diagram of an isotropic repulsive soft-core attractive potential, where a liquid-liquid phase transition exists in addition to the standard gas-liquid phase transition, changes by varying the parameters of the potential. We show that there are some regions in a potential parameter space where a high-density liquid-liquid critical point can exist in addition to the conventional gas-liquid critical point. It is also found that there is a correlation between the behavior of the phase diagram as a function of width of the repulsive step and the structure of the correlation function of a reference liquid.