Two step melting of the Weeks-Chandler-Anderson system in two dimensions

Abstract

We present a detailed numerical simulation study of a two dimensional system of particles interacting via the Weeks-Chandler-Anderson potential, the repulsive part of the Lennard-Jones potential. With reduction of density, the system shows a two-step melting: a continuous melting from solid to hexatic phase, followed by a a first order melting of hexatic to liquid. The solid-hexatic melting is consistent with the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young (KTHNY) scenario and shows dislocation unbinding. The first order melting of hexatic to fluid phase, on the other hand, is dominated by formation of string of defects at the hexatic-fluid interfaces.

11 pages, 14 figures

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• The role of attraction in the phase diagrams and melting scenarios of generalized 2D Lennard-Jones systems
• Comparing four hard-sphere approximations for the low-temperature WCA melting line
• Melting of the two-dimensional solid phase in the Gaussian-core model
• Positional information as a universal predictor of freezing