We investigate the ability of the reference hypernetted-chain integral equation to describe the phase diagram of square-well fluids with four different ranges of attraction. Comparison of our results with simulation data shows that the theory is able to reproduce with fairly good accuracy a significant part of the coexistence curve, provided an extrapolation procedure is used to circumvent the well-known pathologies of the pseudo-spinodal line, which are more severe at reduced width of the attractive well. The method provides a useful approach for a quick assessment of the location of the liquid-vapor coexistence curve in this kind of fluid and serves as a check for the more complex problem of anisotropic "patchy" square-well molecules.
We investigate the structure and phase behavior of the Stockmayer fluid in the presence of nonuniform electric fields using molecular simulation. We find that an initially homogeneous vapor phase undergoes a local phase separation in a nonuniform field due to the combined effect of the field gradient and the fluid vapor--liquid equilibrium. This results in a high density fluid condensing in the strong field region. The system polarization exhibits a strong field dependence due to the fluid condensation.
A novel mathematical rigorous method to obtain the vapor-liquid equilibrium curves near the critical point has been proposed covering the cases of well-known and commonly used equations of state for real gases - Van der Waals and Dieterici, which are prototypes to determine the critical exponent value of the coexistence curves system. We explain that the critical exponent value of the vapor-liquid equilibrium curves can be regarded as the analogy to the results based on classical assumptions - mean field theory. The novelty of our method has been exposed in comparison to the standard thermodyn…
In this work the interface system of the van der Waals fluid is investigated by using the density gradient theory incorporated with the mean-field theory. Based on the mean-field dividing interface generated by the Maxwell construction, we propose a highly accurate density profile model for the density gradient theory, which facilitates reliable predictions of various properties for the interface region. It is found that the local intrinsic Helmholtz free energy peaks at the interface and that the maximum difference of the normal and tangential components of the pressure tensor corresponds to …
The free energetics of water density fluctuations in bulk water, at interfaces, and in hydrophobic confinement inform the hydration of hydrophobic solutes as well as their interactions and assembly. The characterization of such free energetics is typically performed using enhanced sampling techniques such as umbrella sampling. In umbrella sampling, order parameter distributions obtained from adjacent biased simulations must overlap in order to estimate free energy differences between biased ensembles. Many biased simulations are typically required to ensure such overlap, which exacts a steep c…
Results from the state-of-the-art molecular dynamics simulations are presented for both equilibrium and nonequilibrium dynamics following vapor-liquid transition in a single component Lennard-Jones system. We have fixed the overall density close to the vapor-branch of the coexistence curve so that the liquid phase forms droplet structure in the background of vapor phase. In the equilibrium case, the motion of a single droplet is studied in both microcanonical and canonical ensembles, in the latter case a hydrodynamics preserving Nosé-Hoover thermostat was used to control the temperature. The d…
Results for the kinetics of vapor-liquid phase transition have been presented from the molecular dynamics simulations of a single component two-dimensional Lennard-Jones fluid. The phase diagram for the model, primary prerequisite for this purpose, has been obtained via the Monte Carlo simulations. Our focus is on the region very close to the vapor branch of the coexistence curve. Quenches to such region provide morphology that consists of disconnected circular liquid clusters in the vapor background. We identified that these clusters exhibit diffusive motion and grow via sticky collisions amo…
Among the many existing molecular models of water, the MB-pol many-body potential has emerged as a remarkably accurate model, capable of reproducing thermodynamic, structural, and dynamic properties across water's solid, liquid, and vapor phases. In this work, we assessed the performance of MB-pol with respect to an important set of properties related to vapor-liquid coexistence and interfacial behavior. Through direct coexistence classical molecular dynamics simulations at temperatures 400 K < T < 600 K, we calculated properties such as equilibrium coexistence densities, vapor-liquid interfac…
It was recently shown that vapor-liquid coexistence densities derived from Mie and Yukawa models collapse to define a single master curve when represented against the difference between the reduced second virial coefficient at the corresponding temperature and that at the critical point. In this work we further test this proposal for another generalization of the Lennard-Jones pair potential. This is carried out for vapor-liquid coexistence densities, surface tension, and vapor pressure, along a temperature window set below the critical point. For this purpose we perform molecular dynamics sim…
Hypothesis: As a fluid approaches three phase coexistence, adsorption may take place by the successive formation of two intervening wetting films. The equilibrium thickness of these wetting layers is the result of a delicate balance of intermolecular forces, as dictated by an underlying interface potential. The van der Waals forces for the two variable adsorption layers may be formulated exactly from Dzyaloshinskii-Lifshitz-Pitaevskii theory, and analytical approximations may be derived that extent well beyond the validity of conventional Hamaker theory. Calculations: We consider the adsorptio…
With the use of thermodynamics and general equilibrium conditions only, we study the entropy of a fluid in the vicinity of the critical point of the liquid-vapor phase transition. By assuming a general form for the coexistence curve in the vicinity of the critical point, we show that the functional dependence of the entropy as a function of energy and particle densities necessarily obeys the scaling form hypothesized by Widom. Our analysis allows for a discussion on the properties of the corresponding scaling function, with the interesting prediction that the critical isotherm has the same fun…
Inhomogeneity of ion correlation widely exists in many physicochemical, soft matter, and biological systems. Here, we apply the modified Gaussian renormalized fluctuation theory to study the classic example of the vapor-liquid interface of ionic fluids. The ion correlation is decomposed into a short-range contribution associated with the local electrostatic environment and a long-range contribution accounting for the spatially varying ionic strength and dielectric permittivity. For symmetric salt, both the coexistence curve and the interfacial tension predicted by our theory are in quantitativ…
We study the excess free energy due to phase coexistence of fluids by Monte Carlo simulations using successive umbrella sampling in finite LxLxL boxes with periodic boundary conditions. Both the vapor-liquid phase coexistence of a simple Lennard-Jones fluid and the coexistence between A-rich and B-rich phases of a symmetric binary (AB) Lennard-Jones mixture are studied, varying the density rho in the simple fluid or the relative concentration x_A of A in the binary mixture, respectively. The character of phase coexistence changes from a spherical droplet (or bubble) of the minority phase (near…
We investigate the origin of the density depletion and enhanced density fluctuations that occur in water in the vicinity of an extended hydrophobic solute. We argue that both phenomena are remnants of the critical drying surface phase transition that occurs at liquid-vapor coexistence in the macroscopic planar limit, ie. as the solute radius $R_s\to\infty$. Focusing on the density profile $ρ(r)$ and a sensitive spatial measure of fluctuations, the local compressibility profile $χ(r)$, we develop a scaling theory which expresses the extent of the density depletion and enhancement in compressibi…
We analyze a one-component simple fluid in a liquid-vapor coexistence state, which forms an arbitrarily curved interface. By using an approach based on density functional theory, we obtain an exact and simple expression for the grand potential at the level of mean field approximation that depends on the density profile and the short-range interaction potential. By introducing the step-function approximation for the density profile, and using general geometric arguments, we expand the grand potential in powers of the principal curvatures of the surface and find consistency with the Helfrich phe…
We develop a theory based on the method of collective variables to study the vapor-liquid equilibrium of asymmetric ionic fluids confined in a disordered porous matrix. The approach allows us to formulate the perturbation theory using an extension of the scaled particle theory for a description of a reference system presented as a two-component hard-sphere fluid confined in a hard-sphere matrix. Treating an ionic fluid as a size- and charge-asymmetric primitive model (PM) we derive an explicit expression for the relevant chemical potential of a confined ionic system which takes into account th…
A finite-temperature density functional approach to describe the properties of parahydrogen in the liquid-vapor coexistence region is presented. The first proposed functional is zero-range, where the density-gradient term is adjusted so as to reproduce the surface tension of the liquid-vapor interface at low temperature. The second functional is finite-range and, while it is fitted to reproduce bulk pH2 properties only, it is shown to yield surface properties in good agreement with experiments. These functionals are used to study the surface thickness of the liquid-vapor interface, the wetting…
We analyze the interrelation between the coexistence curve of the Lennard-Jones fluid and the Ising model in two and three dimensions within the global isomorphism approach proposed earlier [V. L. Kulinskii, J. Phys. Chem. B \textbf{114} 2852 (2010)]. In case of two dimensions we use the exact Onsager result to construct the binodal of the corresponding Lennard-Jones fluid and compare it with the results of the simulations. In the three dimensional case we use available numerical results for the Ising model for the corresponding mapping. The possibility to observe the singularity of the binoda…
Kinetics of phase separation in a three dimensional single-component Lennard-Jones fluid, that exhibits vapor-liquid transition, is studied via molecular dynamics simulations after quenching homogeneous systems, of different overall densities, inside the coexistence region. For densities close to the vapor branch of the coexistence curve, phase separation progresses via nucleation of liquid droplets and collisions among them. This is different from the evaporation-condensation mechanism proposed by Lifshitz and Slyozov, even though both lead to power-law growth of average domain size, as a fun…
In this work we define a mean-field crossover generated by the Maxwell construction as the dividing interface for the vapor-liquid interface area. A highly accurate density-profile equation is thus derived, which is physically favorable and leads to reliable predictions of interfacial properties. By using the density gradient theory and a mean-field equation of sate for the Lennard-Jones fluid, we are able to extensively explore the interface system in terms of the Gibbs free energy, the Helmholtz free energy and heat capacity. The results show that the mean-field dividing interface is the nat…
We consider the liquid-vapor type phase transition for fluids confined within spatially periodic external fields. For a fluid in d=3 dimensions, the periodic field induces an additional phase, characterized by large density modulations along the field direction. At the triple point, all three phases (modulated, vapor, and liquid) coexist. At temperatures slightly above the triple point and for low (high) values of the chemical potential, two-phase coexistence between the modulated phase and the vapor (liquid) is observed. We study this phenomenon using computer simulations and mean-field theor…
Depletion of the liquid density near a solid surface with a weak long-range fluid-surface interaction was studied by computer simulations of the liquid-vapor coexistence of a LJ fluid confined in slitlike pores. In a wide temperature range the liquid density decreases towards the surface without the formation of a { \it vapor} layer between the liquid and the solid surface. This evidences the absence of a drying transition up to the liquid-vapor critical point. Two contributions to the excess desorption { \it $Γ_{tot}$ } were found. The first one { \it $Γ_ξ$ } $\sim$ $ρ_{bulk}$ $ξ$ exists at a…
Last years, there has been a renewed interest in the utilization of statistical field theory methods for the description of systems at equilibrium both in the vicinity and away from critical points, in particular in the field of liquid state physics. These works deal in general with homogeneous systems, although recently the study of liquids in the vicinity of hard walls has also been considered in this way. On the other hand, effective Hamiltonian pertaining to the $ϕ^4$ theory family have been written and extensively used for the description of inhomogeneous systems either at the simple inte…
We find a thermodynamic description of gas-liquid criticality that is different from van der Waals and mean-field theories. At the critical temperature there is no critical point; a liquid phase coexists with a vapor phase with densities determined by an intersection of 2nd-order percolation transition loci. There is a line of critical states of constant chemical potential at temperatures above which there exists a supercritical mesophase, and below which there is the familiar two-phase liquid-vapor coexistence region.
Specialized Monte Carlo methods are nowadays routinely employed, in combination with thermodynamic integration (TI), to locate phase boundaries of classical many-particle systems. This is especially useful for the fluid-solid transition, where a critical point does not exist and both phases may notoriously go deeply metastable. Using the Lennard-Jones model for demonstration, we hereby investigate on the alternate possibility of tracing reasonably accurate transition lines directly by integrating the pressure equation of state computed in a canonical-ensemble simulation with local moves. The r…
The phase diagram (pressure versus temperature) of the pure fluid is typically envisioned as being featureless apart from the presence of the liquid-vapor coexistence curve terminating at the critical point. However, a number of recent authors have proposed that this simple picture misses important features, such as the Widom line, the Fisher-Widom line, and the Frenkel line. In our paper we discuss another way of augmenting the pure fluid phase diagram, lines of zero thermodynamic curvature $R=0$ separating regimes of fluid solid-like behavior ($R>0$) from gas-like or liquid-like behavior ($R…
We performed molecular dynamics simulations to study relaxation phenomena during vapor-liquid transitions in a single component Lennard-Jones system. Results from two different overall densities are presented; one in the neighborhood of the vapor branch of the coexistence curve and the other being close to the critical density. The nonequilibrium morphologies, growth mechanisms and growth laws in the two cases are vastly different. In the low density case growth occurs via diffusive coalescence of droplets in a disconnected morphology. On the other hand, the elongated structure in the higher d…
Structure of liquid--vapor interfaces: perspectives from liquid state theory, large-scale simulations, and potential grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction
Within the coexistence region between liquid and vapor the equilibrium pressure of a simulated fluid exhibits characteristic jumps and plateaus when plotted as a function of density at constant temperature. These features exclusively pertain to a finite-size sample in a periodic box, as they are washed out in the bulk limit. Below the critical density, at each pressure jump the shape of the liquid drop undergoes a morphological transition, changing from spherical to cylindrical to slab-like as the density is increased. We formulate a simple theory of these shape transitions, which is adapted f…
I evaluate the thermodynamic curvature $R$ for fourteen pure fluids along their liquid-vapor coexistence curves, from the critical point to the triple point, using thermodynamic input from the NIST Chemistry WebBook. In this broad overview, $R$ is evaluated in both the coexisting liquid and vapor phases. $R$ is an invariant whose magnitude $|R|$ is a measure of the size of mesoscopic organized structures in a fluid, and whose sign specifies whether intermolecular interactions are effectively attractive ($R<0$) or repulsive ($R>0$). I discuss five principles for $R$ in pure fluids: 1) near the …
We extend Expanded Wang-Landau (EWL) simulations beyond classical systems and develop the EWL method for systems modeled with a tight-binding Hamiltonian. We then apply the method to determine the partition function and thus all thermodynamic properties, including the Gibbs free energy and entropy, of the fluid phases of Si. We compare the results from quantum many-body (QMB) tight binding models, which explicitly calculate the overlap between the atomic orbitals of neighboring atoms, to those obtained with classical many-body force fields (CMB), which allow to recover the tetrahedral organiza…
We analyze the properties of naturally formed nano-bubbles in Lennard-Jones molecular dynamics simulations of liquid-to-vapor nucleation in the boiling and the cavitation regimes. The large computational volumes provide a realistic environment at unchanging average temperature and liquid pressure, which allows us to accurately measure properties of bubbles from their inception as stable, critically sized bubbles, to their continued growth into the constant speed regime. Bubble gas densities are up to 50$%$ lower than the equilibrium vapor densities at the liquid temperature, yet quite close to…
A shift of the vapor-liquid coexistence curves by the critical value of the reduced second virial coefficient yields striking data collapses to define master curves. This is observed for the Mie, Yukawa and square-well fluids of different attractive ranges. This modification of the extended corresponding-states law of Noro and Frenkel strongly improves the outcomes from the van der Waals principle. Moreover, this shifted extended principle makes the master curves from Mie and Yukawa potentials to be one on top of the other. The square-well potential forms two well defined master curves, each o…
The coupling parameter expansion in thermodynamic perturbation theory of simple fluids is generalized to include the derivatives of bridge function. We applied seventh order version of the theory to Square-Well (SW) and Lennard-Jones (LJ) fluids using Sarkisov Bridge function. In both cases, the theory reproduced the radial distribution functions obtained from integral equation theory (IET) and simulations with good accuracy. Also, the method worked inside the liquid-vapor coexistence region where the IETs are known to fail. In the case of SW fluids, the use of Carnahan-Starling expression for…
