Systematic characterization of thermodynamic and dynamical phase behavior in systems with short-ranged attraction

TL;DR

This study enhances the Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo method to better analyze phase behavior in systems with very short-range attractions, revealing links between stable cluster phases and phase separation phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces an augmented Monte Carlo approach for narrower attractive ranges and compares it with existing theoretical methods, also exploring out-of-equilibrium behaviors.

Findings

Enhanced phase behavior analysis for short-range attractive systems.

Identification of relationships between stable clusters and phase separation.

Comparison with Ornstein-Zernike approximation results.

Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate the feasibility and utility of an augmented version of the Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo method for computing the phase behavior of systems with strong, extremely short-ranged attractions. For generic potential shapes, this approach allows for the investigation of narrower attractive widths than those previously reported. Direct comparison to previous self-consistent Ornstein-Zernike approximation calculations are made. A preliminary investigation of out-of-equilibrium behavior is also performed. Our results suggest that the recent observations of stable cluster phases in systems without long-ranged repulsions are intimately related to gas-crystal and metastable gas-liquid phase separation.