Inverse melting in a two-dimensional off-lattice model

Abstract

We carry out computer simulations of a simple, two-dimensional off-lattice model that exhibits inverse melting. The monodisperse system comprises core-softened disks interacting through a repulsive square shoulder located inside an attractive square well. By systematically varying the potential parameters, we increase the pressure range over which the liquid freezes to a crystal upon isobaric heating. The effect is largely controlled by the extent of the shoulder. Despite occurring in two dimensions, the melting transition is first order and to a liquid, rather than to a hexatic or quasicrystal phase. We also provide comment on a commonly employed correlation function used to determine the degree of translational ordering in a system.

13 pages, 13 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Determination of phase diagrams via computer simulation: Methodology and applications to water, electrolytes and proteins
• Hexatic phase and water-like anomalies in a two-dimensional fluid of particles with a weakly softened core
• Phase diagram of a solution undergoing inverse melting

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Simulation of many-electron systems that exchange matter with the environment
• On the mechanism behind the inverse melting in systems with competing interactions
• Exact mean-field solution of a spin chain with short-range and long-range interactions