Five discs in a box

Richard K. Bowles and Robin J. Speedy

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1999, vol. 262, issue 1, 76-87

Abstract: Molecular dynamics studies of five hard discs in a square box with hard walls show states that are analogues of the fluid, crystal and glass phases of a much larger system. The behaviour of the model is described in terms of the configurational landscape, which has one crystalline and four amorphous inherent structures. A metastable supercooled fluid is stabilised when the discs are constrained to the amorphous basins. When the discs become trapped in a single basin the system is a glass. The statistical entropy decreases by kln(4) at the glass transition and tends to that of the crystal at the same temperature and pressure, as absolute zero is approached.

Keywords: Glass transition; Entropy; Third law of thermodynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:262:y:1999:i:1:p:76-87

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(98)00404-X

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