Density functional theory approach to the freezing transition in two-dimensional colloid system

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

The freezing transition of two-dimensional colloid system is studied by the density functional theory (DFT). The liquid direct-pair correlation function (DPCF) is simulated by molecular dynamics simulations. With the DPCF, the freezing transition is determined using DFT with the Fourier components of the density ρ K as the order parameters. The DFT results are consistent with the simulation results if ρ Ks of the lowest three shells of reciprocal lattice vector (RLV) are used in the DFT calculation. The first order freezing transition takes place at DPCF ρ0 C(ka) = 0.788 on the first RLV shell. The laser induced freezing of colloid system is also studied using the DFT.