Correlations in the Motion of Atoms in Liquid Argon
Abstract
A system of 864 particles interacting with a Lennard-Jones potential and obeying classical equations of motion has been studied on a digital computer (CDC 3600) to simulate molecular dynamics in liquid argon at 94.4°K and a density of 1.374 g cm-3. The pair-correlation function and the constant of self-diffusion are found to agree well with experiment; the latter is 15% lower than the experimental value. The spectrum of the velocity autocorrelation function shows a broad maximum in the frequency region ω=0.25(kBTℏ). The shape of the Van Hove function Gs(r, t) attains a maximum departure from a Gaussian at about t=3.0×10-12 sec and becomes a Gaussian again at about 10-11 sec. The Van Hove function Gd(r, t) has been compared with the convolution approximation of Vineyard, showing that this approximation gives a too rapid decay of Gd(r, t) with time. A delayed-convolution approximation has been suggested which gives a better fit with Gd(r, t) this delayed convolution makes Gd(r, t) decay as t4 at short times and as t at long times.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review
- Pub Date:
- October 1964
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRev.136.A405
- Bibcode:
- 1964PhRv..136..405R