Master singular behavior from correlation length measurements for seven one-component fluids near their gas-liquid critical point

Abstract

We present the master (i.e., unique) behavior of the correlation length, as a function of the thermal field along the critical isochore, asymptotically close to the gas-liquid critical point of xenon, krypton, argon, helium-3, sulfur hexafluoride, carbon dioxide, and heavy water. It is remarkable that this unicity extends to the correction-to-scaling terms. The critical parameter set, which contains all the needed information to reveal the master behavior, is composed of four thermodynamic coordinates of the critical point and one adjustable parameter which accounts for quantum effects in the helium-3 case. We use a scale dilatation method applied to the relevant physical variables of the one-component fluid subclass, in analogy with the basic hypothesis of the renormalization theory. This master behavior for the correlation length satisfies hyperscaling. We finally estimate the thermal field extent where the critical crossover of the singular thermodynamic and correlation functions deviates from the theoretical crossover function obtained from field theory.