Metastable extensions of phase equilibrium lines and singular points of simple substance

Abstract

The thermodynamic properties of crystal, liquid, and gas in the stable and metastable states have been determined by molecular dynamics simulation of a system of 2048 Lennard-Jones particles. The spinodals of a superheated crystal, a superheated liquid, and a supersaturated vapor have been approximated; the spinodal for a supercooled liquid turns out to be nonexistent. The liquid-vapor, liquid-crystal, and crystal-vapor equilibrium curves and their extensions beyond the triple point have been calculated. It has been shown that, as distinct from the metastable extension of the saturation curve, which terminates at the zero isotherm, the metastable melting and sublimation curves terminate at, respectively, the stretched liquid and superheated crystal spinodals. The properties of the critical end points of metastable equilibrium of extended phases are considered.