A potential distribution approach to fused heterochain molecules. I. Mixtures of hard dumbbells and spheres

Measuring many-body distribution functions in fluids using test-particle insertion

We derive a hierarchy of equations, which allow a general n-body distribution function to be measured by test-particle insertion of between 1 and n particles. We apply it to measure the pair and three-body distribution functions in a simple fluid using snapshots from Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble. The resulting distribution functions obtained from insertion methods are compared with the conventional distance-histogram method: the insertion approach is shown to overcome the drawbacks of the histogram method, offering enhanced structural resolution and a more straightforward normalization. At high particle densities, the insertion method starts breaking down, which can be delayed by utilizing the underlying hierarchical structure of the insertion method. Our method will be especially useful in characterizing the structure of inhomogeneous fluids and investigating closure approximations in liquid state theory.

Towards composite spheres as building blocks for structured molecules

In order to design a flexible molecular model that mimics the chemical moieties of a polyatomic molecule, we propose the 'composite-sphere' model that can assemble the essential elements to produce the structure of the target molecule. This is likened to the polymerization process where monomers assemble to form the polymer. The assemblage is built into the pair interaction potentials which can 'react' (figuratively) with selective pieces into various bonds. In addition, we preserve the spherical symmetries of the individual pair potentials so that the isotropic Ornstein-Zernike equation (OZ) for multi-component mixtures can be used as a theoretical framework. We first test our approach on generating a dumbbell molecule. An equimolar binary mixture of hard spheres and square-well spheres are allowed to react to form a dimer. As the bond length shrinks to zero, we create a site-site model of a Janus-like molecule with a repulsive moiety and an attractive moiety. We employ the zero-separation (ZSEP) closure to solve the OZ equations. The structure and thermodynamic properties are calculated at three isotherms and at several densities and the results are compared with Monte Carlo simulations. The close agreement achieved demonstrates that the ZSEP closure is a reliable theory for this composite-sphere fluid model.

Chemical potentials and phase equilibria of Lennard-Jones mixtures: a self-consistent integral equation approach

We explore the vapor-liquid phase behavior of binary mixtures of Lennard-Jones-type molecules where one component is supercritical, given the system temperature. We apply the self-consistency approach to the Ornstein-Zernike integral equations to obtain the correlation functions. The consistency checks include not only thermodynamic consistencies (pressure consistency and Gibbs-Duhem consistency), but also pointwise consistencies, such as the zero-separation theorems on the cavity functions. The consistencies are enforced via the bridge functions in the closure which contain adjustable parameters. The full solution requires the values of not only the monomer chemical potentials, but also the dimer chemical potentials present in the zero-separation theorems. These are evaluated by the direct chemical-potential formula [L. L. Lee, J. Chem. Phys. 97, 8606 (1992)] that does not require temperature nor density integration. In order to assess the integral equation accuracy, molecular-dynamics simulations are carried out alongside the states studied. The integral equation results compare well with simulation data. In phase calculations, it is important to have pressure consistency and valid chemical potentials, since the matching of phase boundaries requires the equality of the pressures and chemical potentials of both the liquid and vapor phases. The mixtures studied are methane-type and pentane-type molecules, both characterized by effective Lennard-Jones potentials. Calculations on one isotherm show that the integral equation approach yields valid answers as compared with the experimental data of Sage and Lacey. To study vapor-liquid phase behavior, it is necessary to use consistent theories; any inconsistencies, especially in pressure, will vitiate the phase boundary calculations.

Self-consistent molecular field theory for packing in classical liquids

Building on a quasichemical formulation of solution theory, this paper proposes a self-consistent molecular field theory for packing problems in classical liquids, and tests the theoretical predictions for the excess chemical potential of the hard sphere fluid. Results are given for the self-consistent molecular fields obtained, and for the probabilities of occupancy of a molecular observation volume. For this system, the excess chemical potential predicted is nearly as accurate as the most accurate prior theories, specifically the scaled particle (Percus-Yevick compressibility) theory. A compact formula is obtained to throw light on the variation of the chemical potential with the radius of a distinguished hard sphere solute in general solvents. It is argued that the present approach is particularly simple, permits a natural description of possibilities for multiphasic behavior of the solution, and should provide a basis for a molecular-scale description of more complex solutions.