Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 7, 2025

Computation of Atmospheric Concentrations of Molecular Clusters from ab initio Thermochemistry
Published on: April 8, 2020
Ground state chemical potential of parahydrogen clusters of size N = 21-40
Matthew Schmidt1, Pierre-Nicholas Roy1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
Abstract:
We report the ground state chemical potential of parahydrogen clusters between N = 21-40 calculated using the Langevin equation Path Integral Ground State method. There has been much debate in the past whether the chemical potential size evolution in this region is jagged (indicating magic number cluster sizes) or if it is smooth (indicating some quantum melting below 1 K). We compare to previous diffusion Monte Carlo and Path Integral Ground State (PIGS) results, including very recent Variational Path Integral Molecular Dynamics (VPIMD) calculations [S. Miura, J. Chem. Phys. 148, 102333 (2018)]. We find that the ground state chemical potential is not a smooth curve and that magic number clusters are present, consistent with VPIMD and PIGS Monte Carlo results.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Orbitals
Other Nuclides: 31P, 19F, 15N NMR
While fluorine-19 and phosphorous-31 have high natural abundances (100%) and positive gyromagnetic ratios, nitrogen-15 has a low natural abundance and a negative gyromagnetic ratio. However, nitrogen-15 is still preferred over nitrogen-14 (which has a...
Comparing Intermolecular Forces: Melting Point, Boiling Point, and Miscibility
Temporary attractive forces like dispersion are present in all molecules, whether they are polar or nonpolar. They...
Molecular Orbital Theory II
The Aufbau Principle and Hund's Rule
Interpreting ¹H NMR Signal Splitting: The (n + 1) Rule

