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Explaining why simple liquids are quasi-universal.

Andreas K Bacher¹, Thomas B Schrøder¹, Jeppe C Dyre¹

¹DNRF Center 'Glass and Time', IMFUFA, Department of Sciences, Roskilde University, Postbox 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.

Nature Communications

|November 15, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Many simple liquids exhibit similar structures and dynamics, a phenomenon known as quasi-universality. This study shows that quasi-universal liquids possess pair potentials that can be approximated by sums of exponential terms with large prefactors.

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Area of Science:

Condensed matter physics
Statistical mechanics
Physical chemistry

Background:

Simple liquids often display similar structures, characterized by radial distribution functions.
Liquid dynamics are also surprisingly similar across systems with different pair potentials, a property termed quasi-universality.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify the conditions under which liquids exhibit quasi-universal behavior.
To establish a connection between pair potentials and quasi-universality in liquid systems.

Main Methods:

Analysis of virial potential-energy correlations in exponentially repulsive pair potentials.
Investigating the relationship between pair potential functional forms and liquid properties.

Main Results:

Demonstrated that quasi-universality in liquids is linked to pair potentials expressible as sums of exponential terms with large prefactors.
Observed strong virial potential-energy correlations in the low-temperature phase diagram of exponentially repulsive potentials.

Conclusions:

A liquid is quasi-universal if its pair potential can be approximated by a sum of exponential terms with large prefactors.
Conjectured that quasi-universality is exclusive to systems possessing this specific pair potential characteristic.