Second virial coefficient, Boyle temperature and equation of state of van Hove fluids with a downward concavity attractive parabolic-well

Abstract

The second virial coefficient, the Boyle temperature and the equation of state of van Hove fluids with a relatively short ranged attractive parabolic-well of downward concavity are considered. The analytic second virial coefficient for this fluid is obtained explicitly and it is used to compute the Boyle temperature of the fluid as a function of the range of the potential. Further, an equation of state is derived using the second-order thermodynamic perturbation theory of Barker and Henderson in the macroscopic compressibility approximation, with the hard-sphere fluid being the reference fluid. For this latter we profit from the fully analytical expression of the radial distribution function, consistent with the Carnahan-Starling equation state, derived within the so-called rational function approximation method up to a range twice the size of the hard-core diameter. The results for the reduced pressure of the fluid as a function of the packing fraction and two values of the range of the potential well at different temperatures are compared with Monte Carlo simulation data. Estimates of the values of the critical temperature are also provided.