Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 4, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Transition state theory and the dynamics of hard disks
M Barnett-Jones1, P A Dickinson1, M J Godfrey1
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Abstract:
The dynamics of two- and five-disk systems confined in a square has been studied using molecular dynamics simulations and compared with the predictions of transition state theory. We determine the partition functions Z and Z(‡) of transition state theory using a procedure first used by Salsburg and Wood for the pressure. Our simulations show this procedure and transition state theory are in excellent agreement with the simulations. A generalization of the transition state theory to the case of a large number of disks N is made and shown to be in full agreement with simulations of disks moving in a narrow channel. The same procedure for hard spheres in three dimensions leads to the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann formula for their alpha relaxation time.
More Related Videos
11:33All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
06:26Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Theories of Dissolution: The Danckwerts' Model and Interfacial Barrier Model
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution
Dynamic Equilibrium
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes
Path Between Thermodynamics States