The effect of long-range three-particle forces on the surface energy and physisorption energy of rare gas crystals

Abstract

The contribution of the triple-dipole interactions to the surface energy of rare gas crystals is considered. The result is obtained by direct summation of triplet bonds broken by a cleavage process. This non-additive effect proves to be 50% more important in the surface energy problem than in the corresponding bulk cohesive energy problem. In addition, the long-range threebody effect is evaluated for the physisorption energy of rare-gas atoms on rare-gas crystals and is shown to modify the pair binding energies by some 10%. In both problems the three-particle forces are found to be repulsive.