Theoretical description of cluster formation in two-Yukawa competing fluids

Dino Costa (1) , Carlo Caccamo (1) , Jean-Marc Bomont (2) , Jean-Louis Bretonnet (3)

1 Dipartimento di Fisica
2 UPVM - Université Paul Verlaine - Metz
3 LPMD - Laboratoire de Physique des Milieux Denses

We investigate the temperature threshold whereupon two-Yukawa fluids with microscopic competing interactions transform from normal to cluster fluids. Specifically, we apply two refined, thermodynamically self-consistent integral equation theories of the liquid state to study a family of two-Yukawa models having the same interaction strength, independently on the choice of potential parameters. We find, over the range of potential parameters and fluid densities investigated, an almost linear scaling between the temperature threshold for the cluster formation and the height of repulsive interactions, with higher barriers stabilizing the cluster fluid at higher temperatures. Cluster-cluster correlation lengths seem instead influenced by the long-range features of interactions.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]

Dino Costa, Carlo Caccamo, Jean-Marc Bomont, Jean-Louis Bretonnet. Theoretical description of cluster formation in two-Yukawa competing fluids. Molecular Physics, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/00268976.2011.611480⟩. ⟨hal-00739201⟩