Model energy landscapes of low-temperature fluids: Dipolar hard spheres

Abstract

An analytical model of non-Gaussian energy landscape of low-temperature fluids is developed based on the thermodynamics of the fluid of dipolar hard spheres. The entire excitation profile of the liquid, from the high-temperature liquid to the point of ideal-glass transition, has been obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. The fluid of dipolar hard spheres loses stability close to the point of ideal-glass transition transforming via a first-order transition into a columnar liquid phase of dipolar chains locally arranged in a body-centered-tetragonal order. Significant non-Gaussianity of the energy landscape is responsible for narrowing of the distribution of potential energies and energies of inherent structures with decreasing temperature. We suggest that the proposed functionality of the enumeration function is widely applicable to both polar and nonpolar low-temperature liquids.