Molecular dynamics calculations for the liquid alkali metals near their melting points

Abstract

Molecular dynamics calculations of structural and time-dependent correlation functions for liquid Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs near their melting points are reported and used to observe the trends of these properties with increasing atomic number in the alkali metals. A simple effective pair potential model which depends on a single adjustable parameter has been used. It is found that the main differences between the alkali metals are mainly due to the different characteristic scales of length and time associated to the different densities and speeds of motion of the particles of each metal.