3 papers
cond-mat.soft2025
Local composition fluctuations act as precursors for crystal nucleation in polydisperse hard spheres
Marjolein de Jager, Antoine Castagnède, Frank Smallenburg +1
We revisit the effect of polydispersity on the crystal nucleation of hard spheres. Using event-driven molecular dynamics simulations, we obtain the nucleation rate as a function of…
cond-mat.soft2025
Freezing line of polydisperse hard spheres via direct-coexistence simulations
Antoine Castagnède, Laura Filion, Frank Smallenburg
In experimental systems, colloidal particles are virtually always at least somewhat polydisperse, which can have profound effects on their ability to crystallize. Unfortunately, ac…
cond-mat.soft2025
The Free-Energy Barrier of Precritical Nuclei in Hard Spheres is Consistent with Predictions
Lars Kürten, Antoine Castagnède, Frank Smallenburg +1
Predicting crystal nucleation is among the most significant long--standing challenges in condensed matter. In the system most studied (hard sphere colloids), the comparison between…