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Title: Atomic motion from the mean square displacement in a monatomic liquid

Journal Article · · Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Descartes Labs, Los Alamos, NM (United States)

V-T theory is constructed in the many-body Hamiltonian formulation, and is being developed as a novel approach to liquid dynamics theory. In this theory the liquid atomic motion consists of two contributions, normal mode vibrations in a single representative potential energy valley, and transits, which carry the system across boundaries between valleys. The mean square displacement time correlation function (the MSD) is a direct measure of the atomic motion, and our goal is to determine if the V-T formalism can produce a physically sensible account of this motion. We employ molecular dynamics (MD) data for a system representing liquid Na, and find the motion evolves in three successive time intervals: on the first 'vibrational' interval, the vibrational motion alone gives a highly accurate account of the MD data; on the second 'crossover' interval, the vibrational MSD saturates to a constant while the transit motion builds up from zero; on the third 'random walk' interval, the transit motion produces a purely diffusive random walk of the vibrational equilibrium positions. Furthermore, this motional evolution agrees with, and adds refinement to, the MSD atomic motion as described by current liquid dynamics theories.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1291293
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-26631
Journal Information:
Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter, Vol. 28, Issue 18; ISSN 0953-8984
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 11 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Cited By (1)


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