Theoretical determination of the thickness of a liquid-vapour interface

J. Lekner and J.R. Henderson

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1978, vol. 94, issue 3, 545-558

Abstract: We compare eight possible definitions of the surface thickness for two density profiles. One definition is eliminated, and then the 10–90 thickness t is shown to be in satisfactory agreement with the other six. Our earlier work on the liquid-vapour interface is taken further, with a physical interpretation of the slowly varying density limit for the surface energy ∈; an improved estimate of t using experimental values of ∈ and the bulk energy; and an estimate of t using experimental values of ∈ and the surface tension. We obtain t ≈ 1.3d (d is the atomic diameter) for Ar, Kr and Xe near their triple points. A comparison is made with other estimates for t/d. These vary from 1 to above 3. Our results are in best agreement with Monte-Carlo simulations of the interface. The results for liquid 4He at zero temperature are discussed briefly.

Date: 1978
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:94:y:1978:i:3:p:545-558

DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(78)90086-9

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