Models for a liquid–liquid phase transition

Abstract

We use molecular dynamics simulations to study two- and three-dimensional models with the isotropic double-step potential which in addition to the hard core has a repulsive soft core of larger radius. Our results indicate that the presence of two characteristic repulsive distances (hard core and soft core) is sufficient to explain liquid anomalies and a liquid–liquid phase transition, but these two phenomena may occur independently. Thus liquid–liquid transitions may exist in systems like liquid metals, regardless of the presence of the density anomaly. For 2D, we propose a model with a specific set of hard core and soft core parameters, that qualitatively reproduces the phase diagram and anomalies of liquid water. We identify two solid phases: a square crystal (high density phase), and a triangular crystal (low density phase) and discuss the relation between the anomalies of liquid and the polymorphism of the solid. Similarly to real water, our 2D system may have the second critical point in the metastable liquid phase beyond the freezing line. In 3D, we find several sets of parameters for which two fluid–fluid phase transition lines exist: the first line between gas and liquid and the second line between high-density liquid (HDL) and low-density liquid (LDL). In all cases, the LDL phase shows no density anomaly in 3D. We relate the absence of the density anomaly with the positive slope of the LDL–HDL phase transition line.