Cavitation of electron bubbles in liquid parahydrogen

Francesco Ancilotto (1) , Manuel Barranco (2) , Jesús Navarro (3) , Martí Pi (2)

1 CNR-IOM-Democritos
2 E.C.M.
3 CSIC-University of Valencia

Within a finite-temperature density functional approach, we have investigated the structure of electron bubbles in liquid parahydrogen below the saturated vapor pressure, determining the critical pressure at which electron bubbles explode as a function of temperature. The electron-parahydrogen interaction has been modeled by a Hartree-type local potential fitted to the experimental value of the conduction band-edge for a delocalized electron in pH₂. We have found that the pressure for bubble explosion is, in absolute value, about a factor of two smaller than that of the homogeneous cavitation pressure in the liquid. Comparison with the results obtained within the capillary model shows the limitations of this approximation, especially as temperature increases.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]

Francesco Ancilotto, Manuel Barranco, Jesús Navarro, Martí Pi. Cavitation of electron bubbles in liquid parahydrogen. Molecular Physics, 2011, ⟨10.1080/00268976.2011.602650⟩. ⟨hal-00723311⟩