The penetrable-sphere fluid in the high-temperature, high-density limit

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the structural and thermodynamic behavior of a penetrable-sphere fluid in the high-temperature, high-density limit, revealing a spinodal instability and fluid-solid phase transition, with implications for micelle interactions.

Contribution

It derives the properties of the penetrable-sphere fluid in a specific high-temperature, high-density regime, including phase transition points and stability analysis.

Findings

Identification of a spinodal instability at a maximum scaled density

Divergence of correlation length at the instability

Location of the fluid-solid phase transition using free-volume theory

Abstract

We consider a fluid of $d$-dimensional spherical particles interacting via a pair potential $\phi(r)$ which takes a finite value $\epsilon$ if the two spheres are overlapped ($r<\sigma$) and 0 otherwise. This penetrable-sphere model has been proposed to describe the effective interaction of micelles in a solvent. We derive the structural and thermodynamic functions in the limit where the reduced temperature $k_BT/\epsilon$ and density $\rho\sigma^d$ tend to infinity, their ratio being kept finite. The fluid exhibits a spinodal instability at a certain maximum scaled density where the correlation length diverges and a crystalline phase appears, even in the one-dimensional model. By using a simple free-volume theory for the solid phase of the model, the fluid-solid phase transition is located.