The Fisher-Widom line for systems with low melting temperature

Abstract

We present Monte Carlo results for the pair distribution function of three simple fluid models, with pairwise interactions, which have low triple point temperatures and mimic some aspects of Na and Hg liquid metals. The results are then used to get the direct correlation function, by numerical solution of the Ornstein-Zernike equation, and to characterize the decay modes of any density distribution towards the bulk fluid. The Fisher-Widom line is obtained from the crossing of the two lowest inverse decay lengths, associated to monotonic and to oscillatory decay modes. For the pair potential models with a soft repulsive core, the Fisher-Widom line appears well below the critical temperature and has positive slope of the temperature with respect to the density, contrary to previous results for the Lennard-Jones and square-well potentials which had located that line quite close to T c and with negative slope.