Nearest-surface distribution functions for polydispersed particle systems

Journal Article · Wed Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Physical Review A. General Physics; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.45.5530· OSTI ID:7184632

Lu, B ^[1]; Torquato, S ^[2]

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1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7910 (United States)
2. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7910 (United States) Department of Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7910 (United States)

Nearest-neighbor distribution functions characterize the probability of finding a nearest neighbor at some given distance from a {ital reference} point in systems of interacting particles and are of fundamental importance in a variety of problems in the physical and biological sciences. We extend the formalism of Torquato, Lu, and Rubinstein (Phys. Rev. A 41, 2059 (1990)) for identical spheres to obtain exact series representation of nearest-neighbor functions ({ital void} and {ital particle} probability densities) and closely related quantities for systems of interacting {ital D}-dimensional spheres with a polydispersivity in size. Polydispersivity constitutes a basic feature of the structure of random systems of particles and leads to a wider choice of possible definitions for nearest-neighbor functions. The most relevant definition for a polydispersed system of particles involves the nearest particle surface'' rather than the nearest particle center'' and thus we refer to them as nearest-surface distribution functions.'' For the special cases of {ital D}-dimensional hard and overlapping spheres, we obtain analytical expressions for the nearest-surface functions that are accurate for a wide range of sphere concentrations. Employing these results, we are able to compute the corresponding {ital mean} {ital nearest}{minus}{ital surface} {ital distances} for polydispersed hard spheres. Finally, we determine the nearest-surface functions for bidispersed systems from Monte Carlo computer simulations and find that our theoretical results are in very good agreement with the data.

• DOE Contract Number: FG05-86ER13482
• OSTI ID: 7184632
• Journal Information: Physical Review A. General Physics; (United States), Journal Name: Physical Review A. General Physics; (United States) Vol. 45:8; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661300* -- Other Aspects of Physical Science-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
BIOLOGY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COUPLING
DISPERSIONS
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
FUNCTIONS
HARD-SPHERE MODEL
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
MONTE CARLO METHOD
PARTICLES
PHYSICS
RANDOMNESS
SIMULATION
SPHERES