Percus-Yevick Approximation Research Articles

Density functional theory of freezing transition in a binary mixture of spheres and soft-ellipsoids

ABSTRACT This study uses the classical density functional theory (DFT) of freezing to investigate phase transitions in ellipsoidal-spherical binary mixtures interacting via a generalised Gay-Berne (GB) intermolecular potential, with a focus on I-N, I-SmA and N-SmA transitions. The mixtures, consisting mainly of ellipsoids, contain spherical additives at concentrations of 5 % , 10 % and 15 % . The pair correlation functions, which are crucial for the DFT, are derived from Percus-Yevick integral equation theory. Our results show a significant influence of spherical additives on liquid crystalline phases formed by ellipsoids. At an ellipsoid length-to-width ratio of 3.0, only the I-N transition is observed, with the SmA phase remaining unstable under all conditions. Increasing the ellipsoidal length-to-width ratio to κ = 4.0 introduces the SmA phase, whose stability depends on the concentration and size of the spherical additives. The stability of the SmA phase decreases with increasing concentration and size of the spheres. Phase diagrams, which are shown in temperature-density and pressure-temperature planes, emphasise the influence of the size of the spherical dopants on the phase stability.

An excess free energy and chemical potential for hard homonuclear diatomics from integral equation approach

It has been shown that an improved prediction of the thermodynamic quantity for the hard homonuclear diatomics can be performed with an interpolation scheme that relates the thermodynamic property of the hard sphere to that of tangent hard spheres at the same density. Using the analytic expressions based on the solution of an integral equation an excess Helmholtz free energy per particle and chemical potential for hard homonuclear diatomic fluid have been computed. Calculations are carried out for hard homonuclear diatomics with reduced internuclear separations of 0.1 to 1 at reduced densities of 0.2 to 0.9. Our findings for the excess Helmholtz free energy from the Percus–Yevickand Martynov–Sarkisov approximations presents good agreement with available accurate data, having maximum deviations of 15% from it over the separation and density ranges of the calculations. The excess chemical potential from the Martynov–Sarkisov approximation shows better agreement with accurate available data than those from the Percus–Yevick approximation. For the excess chemical potential, a maximum deviation of 9.5% over the range of the calculations has been shown up for the Percus–Yevick approximation.

Simple and accurate expressions for radial distribution functions of hard disk and hard sphere fluids

Analytical expressions for radial distribution function (RDF) are of critical importance for various applications, such as development of the perturbation theories. Theoretically, RDF expressions for odd-dimensional fluids can be obtained by solving the Percus-Yevick integral equations. But for even-dimensional cases, such as the hard disk (2D) fluid, analytical expressions are infeasible. The only 2D RDF is a heuristic expression which provides acceptable estimations for an intermediate and low density range. In this work, we employ a simple and empirical expression for the 2D RDF and the 3D RDF based on an approach proposed for the 3D RDF. The parameters are determined in such a way that the final RDF expressions are thermodynamically consistent, namely the pressure and the isothermal compressibility constraints are both satisfied. The new RDFs for the 2D and 3D hard spheres are highly accurate for the entire density range up to the first-order phase transition points. The predictions of the first coordination numbers are consistent with simulation results for the 3D fluid. Finally, by using the 2D RDF with a primitive second-order perturbation theory, the pressure-volume-temperature relation and vapor-liquid equilibrium are calculated for the 2D Lennard-Jones fluid. Comparisons with the simulation data show promising results.

Radial Distribution Function of Hard Spheres at Different Densities

The model of hard sphere system has important part in modern theories of liquids. Hard sphere fluid is considered as the most intensively studied system among all model fluids. The thermodynamic and structural properties of real fluids can be studied with the help of hard spheres fluid. The exact solution of Ornstein-Zernike (OZ) equation with Percus-Yevick (PY) along with the equation of state provides an approximate analytical expression for radial distribution function (RDF). This work intends to study the radial distribution function of Hard sphere (HS) using the PY approximation for different densities ranging from low to high to find out their structural properties, packing behavior, phase transitions, and thermodynamics. We use FORTRAN program for this purpose. At low densities, the RDF has a single peak at a distance corresponding to the hard sphere diameter, indicating that the particles are well- separated and not interacting with each other like gaseous. As density increases, the peak becomes broader and shifts to smaller distances, indicating that the particles are coming into closer contact and interacting more strongly with each other. The height of the peak also increases, indicating that there is a greater probability of finding a particle at a certain distance from another particle.

Calculation of the entropy for hard-sphere from integral equation method

The Ornstein-Zernike integral equation method has been employed for a single-component hard sphere fluid in terms of the Percus-Yevick (PY) and Martynov-Sarkisov (MS) approximations. The virial equation of state, excess chemical potential, and free energy have been computed in both approximations. The excess entropy has been obtained with both thermodynamic relation and free energy expression for reduced densities of 0.1 to 0.9. It has been shown that the entropy values from thermodynamic relation in the MS approximation are better than those from the PY approximation, especially for high densities, and presents a reasonable comparison with available data in the literature, while the values from free energy expression in both approximations are not only close to each other but also comparable to accurate ones.

Simulations and integral-equationtheories for dipolar density interacting disks.

Integral equationtheories (IETs) based on the Ornstein-Zernike (OZ) relation can be used as an analytical tool to predict structural and thermodynamic properties and phase behavior of fluids with low numerical cost. However, there are no studies of the IETs for the dipolar density interaction potential in two-dimensional systems, a relevant interdomain interaction in lipid monolayers with phase coexistence. This repulsive interaction arises due to the excess dipole density of the domains, which are aligned perpendicular to the interface. This work studies the performance of three closures of the OZ equationfor this novel system: Rogers-Young (RY), modified hypernetted chain (MHNC), and variational modified hypernetted chain (VMHNC). For the last two closures the bridge function of a reference system is required, with the hard disk being the most convenient reference system. Given that in two dimensions there is no analytical expressions for the hard disk correlation functions, two different approximations are proposed: one based on the Percus-Yevick (PY) approximation, and the other based on an extension of the hard spheres Verlet-Weis-Henderson-Grundke (LB) parametrization. The accuracy of the five approaches is evaluated by comparison of the pair correlation function and the structure factor with Monte Carlo simulation data. The results show that RY closure is satisfactory only for low-structured regimes. MHNC and VMHNC closures perform globally well, and there are no significant differences between them. However, the reference system in some cases affects their performance; when the pair correlation function serves as the measure, the LB-based closures quantitatively outperform the PY ones. From the point of view of its applicability, LB-based closures do not have a solution for all studied interaction strength parameters, and, in general, PY-based closures are numerically preferable.

Extension of Radiative Transfer Coherent Backscattering RT-CB code to dense discrete random media

The Radiative transfer coherent backscattering (RT-CB) code is extended to apply to dense discrete random media of optically soft spherical particles. This is achieved by utilizing the well-known static-structure-factor (SSF) correction derived from the Percus–Yevick approximation for sticky-hard-sphere (SHS) pair correlation function. The code is verified against the numerically exact electromagnetic method for small spherical media consisting of submicrometer-sized icy particles at optical wavelengths. The SSF-corrected RT-CB method significantly improves solution accuracy, and the solution agrees well with the numerically exact solution when the packing density is less than 20% and particles are optically soft, i.e., the refractive index of particles is close to that of the background medium.

The coherent electromagnetic field and the effect of the pair distribution function

The effect of two different pair correlation functions, used to model multiple scattering in a slab filled with randomly located spherical particles, is investigated. Specifically, the Percus-Yevick approximation is employed and a comparison with the simple hole correction is made. The kernel entries of the hole correction have an analytic solution, which makes the numerical solution of the integral equations possible. The kernel entries of Percus-Yevick approximation are integrated numerically after a subtraction of the slowly converging part in the integrand. Several numerical examples illustrate the effect of the two pair correlation functions, and we also make a comparison with the predictions Bouguer-Beer law gives.

Computation of Structure and Electrical Resistivity of Liquid Na-Rb Alloys

The structure and electrical resistivity of Na1-xRbx binary alloys (where x = 0, 0.1, 0.2,…,1) are computed using Percus-Yevick (PY) equation, hard-sphere model and Faber-Ziman formula respectively. The partial structure factors and total structure factor are computed using hard-sphere model for Na1-xRbx. In the calculation of resistivity using Faber-Ziman formula, we have employed Ashcroft empty-core pseudo-potential and Hartree dielectric screening. Calculated values of resistivity are compared with the experimental results and other theoretical values reported in literature. It is found that the electrical resistivity calculated using Faber-Ziman formula for binary alloy Na1-xRbx is in good agreement with the values reported experimentally.

Long-range oscillations of a single-particle distribution function for a molecular system of hard spheres near a solid surface in the Percus–Yevick approximation

The properties of molecular systems are defined by asymptotic behavior of distribution functions that have descending character with long-range oscillating order. We consider the molecular system of hard spheres near hard wall. The decrement and period of oscillation are calculated for the distribution function which defines the local density profile.

Functional-renormalization-group approach to classical liquids with short-range repulsion: A scheme without repulsive reference system.

The renormalization-group approaches for classical liquids in previous works required a repulsive reference such as a hard-core one when applied to systems with short-range repulsion. The need for the reference is circumvented here by using a functional-renormalization-group approach for integrating the hierarchical flow of correlation functions along a path of variable interatomic coupling. We introduce the cavity distribution functions to avoid the appearance of divergent terms and choose a path to reduce the error caused by the decomposition of higher order correlation functions. We demonstrate using exactly solvable one-dimensional models that the resulting scheme yields accurate thermodynamic properties and interatomic distribution at various densities when compared to integral-equation methods such as the hypernetted chain and the Percus-Yevick equation, even in the case where our hierarchical equations are truncated with the Kirkwood superposition approximation, which is valid for low-density cases.

Chain-End Effects on Supramolecular Poly(ethylene glycol) Polymers.

In this work we present a fundamental analysis based on small-angle scattering, linear rheology and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments of the role of different hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) types on the structure and dynamics of chain-end modified poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) in bulk. As such bifunctional PEG with a molar mass below the entanglement mass is symmetrically end-functionalized with three different hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) groups: thymine-1-acetic acid (thy), diamino-triazine (dat) and 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone (upy). A linear block copolymer structure and a Newtonian-like dynamics is observed for PEG-thy/dat while results for PEG-upy structure and dynamics reveal a sphere and a network-like behavior, respectively. These observations are concomitant with an increase of the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter from PEG-thy/dat to PEG-upy that is used to quantify the difference between the H-bonding types. The upy association into spherical clusters is established by the Percus–Yevick approximation that models the inter-particle structure factor for PEG-upy. Moreover, the viscosity study reveals for PEG-upy a shear thickening behavior interpreted in terms of the free path model and related to the time for PEG-upy to dissociate from the upy clusters, seen as virtual crosslinks of the formed network. Moreover, a second relaxation time of different nature is also obtained from the complex shear modulus measurements of PEG-upy by the inverse of the angular frequency where G’ and G’’ crosses from the network-like to glass-like transition relaxation time, which is related to the segmental friction of PEG-upy polymeric network strands. In fact, not only do PEG-thy/dat and PEG-upy have different viscoelastic properties, but the relaxation times found for PEG-upy are much slower than the ones for PEG-thy/dat. However, the activation energy related to the association dynamics is very similar for both PEG-thy/dat and PEG-upy. Concerning the segmental dynamics, the glass transition temperature obtained from both rheological and calorimetric analysis is similar and increases for PEG-upy while for PEG-thy/dat is almost independent of association behavior. Our results show how supramolecular PEG properties vary by modifying the H-bonding association type and changing the molecular Flory–Huggins interaction parameter, which can be further explored for possible applications.

Thermodynamic consistency by a modified Perkus–Yevick theory using the Mittag-Leffler function

Closure relations that satisfies thermodynamical consistencies are very important, for it implies physical consistent Ornstein–Zernike equation solutions. The method proposed by Percus (1962), which uses the functional Taylor expansion to obtain closure relations, is presented along with the particular generating functional considered to retrieve the Percus–Yevick (PY) approximation. The main assumption for this particular case, which takes into account the low density limit, is discussed. Based on this argument, it was proposed a modified generating functional with no prior considerations about the system density. As an example, the two-parameters Mittag-Leffler function was used. Since it generalizes the exponential function, the parameters determined at low densities retrieves the PY approximation. For higher densities it was possible to obtain parameters which lead to pressure consistent results, in good agreement with those found in literature.

Nearest-neighbor connectedness theory: A general approach to continuum percolation.

We introduce a method to estimate continuum percolation thresholds and illustrate its usefulness by investigating geometric percolation of noninteracting line segments and disks in two spatial dimensions. These examples serve as models for electrical percolation of elongated and flat nanofillers in thin film composites. While the standard contact volume argument and extensions thereof in connectedness percolation theory yield accurate predictions for slender nanofillers in three dimensions, they fail to do so in two dimensions, making our test a stringent one. In fact, neither a systematic order-by-order correction to the standard argument nor invoking the connectedness version of the Percus-Yevick approximation yield significant improvements for either type of particle. Making use of simple geometric considerations, our new method predicts a percolation threshold of ρ_{c}l^{2}≈5.83 for segments of length l, which is close to the ρ_{c}l^{2}≈5.64 found in Monte Carlo simulations. For disks of area a we find ρ_{c}a≈1.00, close to the Monte Carlo result of ρ_{c}a≈1.13. We discuss the shortcomings of the conventional approaches and explain how usage of the nearest-neighbor distribution in our method bypasses those complications.

Modification of the singlet equation for a molecular system of solid spheres near a solid surface in the Percus-Yevick approximation

An analysis of theoretical methods for studying the molecular structure of liquids bordering a solid surface was carried out. It was established that the currently existing nonlinear integral equations for partial distribution functions do not have an analytical solution for spatially inhomogeneous liquids. A linear integral equation having an analytical solution for a system of solid spheres near a solid surface was proposed.

In situ grazing-incidence x-ray scattering study of pulsed-laser deposition of Pt layers

We present a methodical study of grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering performed in situ during pulsed-laser deposition of Pt on sapphire substrates. From measured two-dimensional intensity distributions in reciprocal space we calculated horizontal and vertical intensity projections and compare them to numerical simulations. The structure of the Pt layers was described using a simple Monte-Carlo model and the Ornstein-Zernicke theory with the Percus-Yevick approximation, and the scattering process was simulated using distorted-wave Born approximation. The validity of the structure models as well as the effect of the indirect scattering processes are discussed. From the comparison of the measured and simulated data we determined the lateral and vertical sizes of surface islands, the surface coverage, the island coalescence, as well as the thickness of the wetting layer at the substrate surface. We studied the time evolution of these parameters and their dependence on the substrate temperature.

Gelling without Structuring: A SAXS Study of the Interactions among DNA Nanostars.

We evaluate, by means of synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering, the shape and mutual interactions of DNA tetravalent nanostars as a function of temperature in both the gas-like state and across the gel transition. To this end, we calculate the form factor from coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations with a novel method that includes hydration effects; we approximate the radial interaction of DNA nanostars as a hard-sphere potential complemented by a repulsive and an attractive Yukawa term; and we predict the structure factors by exploiting the perturbative random phase approximation of the Percus–Yevick equation. Our approach enables us to fit all the data by selecting the particle radius and the width and amplitude of the attractive potential as free parameters. We determine the evolution of the structure factor across gelation and detect subtle changes of the effective interparticle interactions, that we associate to the temperature and concentration dependence of the particle size. Despite the approximations, the approach here adopted offers new detailed insights into the structure and interparticle interactions of this fascinating system.

Indirect Solution of Ornstein-Zernike Equation Using the Hopfield Neural Network Method

Microscopic information, such as the pair distribution and direct correlation functions, can be obtained from experimental data. From these correlation functions, thermodynamical quantities and the potential interaction function can be recovered. Derivations of Ornstein-Zernike equation and Hopfield Neural Network method are given first, as a theoretical background to follow the present work. From these two frameworks, structural information, such as the radial distribution (g(r)) and direct correlation (C(r)) functions, were retrieved from neutron scattering experimental data. The problem was solved considering simple initial conditions, which does not require any previous information about the system, making it clear the robustness of the Hopfield Neural Network method. The pair interaction potential was estimated in the Percus-Yevick (PY) and hypernetted chain (HNC) approximations and a poor agreement, compared with the Lennard-Jones 6-12 potential, was observed for both cases, suggesting the necessity of a more accurate closure relation to describe the system. In this sense, the Hopfield Neural Network together with experimental information provides an alternative approach to solve the Ornstein-Zernike equations, avoiding the limitations imposed by the closure relation.

Temperature relaxation in binary hard-sphere mixture system: Molecular dynamics and kinetic theory study.

Computational schemes to describe the temperature relaxation in the binary hard-sphere mixture system are given on the basis of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and renormalized kinetic theory. Event-driven MD simulations are carried out for three model systems in which the initial temperatures and the ratios of diameter and mass of two components are different to study the temporal evolution of each component temperature in nanoscale molecular conditions mimicking those in living cells. On the other hand, the temperature changes of the two components are also described in terms of a mean-field kinetic theory with the correlation functions calculated in the Percus-Yevick approximation. The calculated results by both the computational approaches have shown fair agreement with each other, whereas slight deviations have been found in the temporal range of femto- to picoseconds when the initial temperatures of the two components are significantly different, such as 300 K vs 1000 K. This discrepancy can be ascribed to the fast intra-component temperature relaxation assumed in the kinetic theory, and its violation in the MD simulations can be evaluated in terms of the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the equilibrated Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution at each temperature and the actual non-equilibrium velocity distribution realized in the MD. Thus, the present analysis provides a quantitative basis for addressing the temperature inhomogeneities experimentally observed in nanoscale crowding conditions.

Structural properties of additive binary hard-sphere mixtures.

An approach to obtain the structural properties of additive binary hard-sphere mixtures is presented. Such an approach, which is a nontrivial generalization of the one recently used for monocomponent hard-sphere fluids [S. Pieprzyk, A. C. Brańka, and D. M. Heyes, Phys. Rev. E 95, 062104 (2017)2470-004510.1103/PhysRevE.95.062104], combines accurate molecular-dynamics simulation data, the pole structure representation of the total correlation functions, and the Ornstein-Zernike equation. A comparison of the direct correlation functions obtained with the present scheme with those derived from theoretical results stemming from the Percus-Yevick (PY) closure and the so-called rational-function approximation (RFA) is performed. The density dependence of the leading poles of the Fourier transforms of the total correlation functions and the decay of the pair correlation functions of the mixtures are also addressed and compared to the predictions of the two theoretical approximations. A very good overall agreement between the results of the present scheme and those of the RFA is found, thus suggesting that the latter (which is an improvement over the PY approximation) can safely be used to predict reasonably well the long-range behavior, including the structural crossover, of the correlation functions of additive binary hard-sphere mixtures.