A theory for self-diffusion in liquids

Brownian motion with time-dependent friction and single-particle dynamics in liquids

A microscopic theory of molecular motion in classical monatomic liquids, proposed by Glass and Rice [Phys. Rev. 176, 239 (1968)10.1103/PhysRev.176.239], is revisited and extended to incorporate the dynamic friction in the Brownian description of the atomic diffusion in a mean-time-dependent harmonic force field. A modified, non-Markovian Langevin equation is utilized to derive an equation of motion for the velocity autocorrelation function with time-dependent friction coefficient. Numerical solution of the equation gives an excellent account of the velocity autocorrelation function in Lennard-Jones liquids, liquid alkali, and transition metals over a broad range of density and temperature. Derivation of the equation of motion leads to a self-consistent expression for the time dependence of friction coefficient. Our results demonstrate that the nature of time dependence of the friction coefficient changes dramatically with the liquid density. At low and moderate densities, the dynamic friction decays exponentially whereas it increases exponentially at high liquid densities. Our findings provide an opportunity for a different outlook of the Brownian description of atomic dynamics in liquids.

On mean-field theories of dynamics in supercooled liquids

We develop a hybrid numerical approach to extract the exact memory function K(t) of a tagged particle in three-dimensional glass-forming liquids. We compare the behavior of the exact memory function to two mean-field approaches, namely, the standard mode-coupling theory and a recently proposed ansatz for the memory function that forms the basis of a new derivation of the exact form of K(t) for a fluid with short-ranged interactions in infinite dimensions. Each of the mean-field functions qualitatively and quantitatively share traits with the exact K(t), although several important quantitative differences are manifest.

Velocity autocorrelation function for simple liquids and its application to liquid metals and alloys

The single-particle Brownian motion in simple monatomic liquids has been described with the help of the equation of motion in terms of velocity autocorrelation function psi(t) , where the particle is assumed to diffuse in a mean-time-dependent field. The equation of motion which is a second order differential equation in psi(t) has been solved in terms of nth order Bessel functions of the first and second kind. The solution is, in fact, the generalization of the solution given by Glass and Rice (GR) [Phys. Rev. 176, 239 (1968)] for low density fluids. The generalized solution is an improvisation over the one by GR and the results demonstrate that, for high density liquids such as liquid metals where the GR solution fails to give a reasonable account of psi(t) , the generalized solution could be very useful to calculate psi(t) . The present approach has been applied to the liquid alkali metals and binary alloys. The results are found to be in close agreement with the molecular dynamics results.

Negative contributions in the velocity correlation function of supercooled liquid water

The translational dynamics of supercooled and normal liquid water is investigated via a specific correlation function DeltaB with the aim of explaining the behavior of the centers of mass velocity correlation function (VCF). DeltaB is divided into diffusive and nondiffusive parts that yield separated contributions to the VCF, namely an Enskog-type diffusive one, modeled by an exponential function, and a nondiffusive one, made up by damped oscillations of a vanishing time integral. In the translational density of states (DOS), the oscillations yield the bands at omega(1) congruent with 50 cm(-1), omega(3) congruent with 240 cm(-1) (the two well-known experimental bands of the Raman spectra) and omega(2) congruent with 160 cm(-1) (the Einstein frequency of the liquid). It is shown that the chief negative lobe of the VCF is mainly due to the DOS component at the lowest frequency omega(1). The study of the relative pair dynamics shows that this lobe is due to the transverse dynamics, while the longitudinal one determines the fast DOS component at omega(3). The presence of a negative tail is highlighted. Its contribution extends beyond the region of the fast dynamics (t<0.7 ps) up to about 1.5 ps and is due to a low-frequency oscillating mode that produces a low-frequency DOS band centered at about omega(0)=20 cm(-1).