• On the behaviour of small clusters near the spinodal decomposition

• Fulltext

https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jcsc/099/04/0243-0252

• Keywords

Behaviour of small clusters; spinodal decomposition; interaction potential; Mayer clusters; spinodal density; mean-field theory

• Abstract

The canonical average of the Boltzmann factor of the interaction potential, as measured by a test particle, is shown to be equal to the inverse of the fraction of the average number $$(\bar m_1 )$$ of 1-particle Mayer clusters. The potential distribution theory is used to derive an analytic expression for a mean number of small clusters $$(\bar m_n {\text{ , 1 }} \leqslant {\text{ }}n &lt; {\text{ }}N,$$ 1≤n&lt;N, in anN-particle system) in the mean-field expression. Near the spinodal density, the average number of small clusters undergo a sharp change. Computation of pressure shows that only the first four clusters produce surprisingly good agreement with known pressure even beyond the spinodal density.

• Author Affiliations

1. Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560 012, India

• Journal of Chemical Sciences

Volume 135, 2023
All articles
Continuous Article Publishing mode

• Editorial Note on Continuous Article Publication

Posted on July 25, 2019