Binary hard-sphere mixtures: a comparison between computer simulation and experiment

Abstract

The complex crystalline order, recently observed by Bartlett, P., Ottewill, R. H., and Pusey, P. N., 1992, Phys. Rev. Lett., 68, 3801, in asymmetric binary hard-sphere mixtures is discussed in detail. Experimental observation on phase separation in a complex fluid, a binary suspension of near hard-sphere colloids, are compared with phase diagrams obtained from computer simulations of an atomic hard-sphere liquid. Although there is in general a close degree of agreement between experiment and theory, a detailed comparison shows several unexpected differences. These differences are shown to reflect non-equilibrium effects, and possible reasons for their origin are evaluated.