Binary mixtures of chiral gases

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the critical pressure for a phase transition in chiral gases varies in binary mixtures, providing insights into molecular symmetry breaking and localization phenomena.

Contribution

It extends a previous model to binary mixtures, analyzing how constituent fractions influence the critical pressure for symmetry breaking in chiral gases.

Findings

Critical pressure depends on mixture composition.

Model explains disappearance of inversion lines at high pressure.

Provides a framework for understanding chiral molecule behavior in mixtures.

Abstract

A possible solution of the well known paradox of chiral molecules is based on the idea of spontaneous symmetry breaking. At low pressure the molecules are delocalized between the two minima of a given molecular potential while at higher pressure they become localized in one minimum due to the intermolecular dipole-dipole interactions. Evidence for such a phase transition is provided by measurements of the inversion spectrum of ammonia and deuterated ammonia at different pressures. In particular, at pressure greater than a critical value no inversion line is observed. These data are well accounted for by a model previously developed and recently extended to mixtures. In the present paper, we discuss the variation of the critical pressure in binary mixtures as a function of the fractions of the constituents.