Thermodynamic and structural anomalies of the Gaussian-core model in one dimension

Abstract

We investigated the equilibrium properties of a one-dimensional system of classical particles which interact in pairs through a bounded repulsive potential with a Gaussian shape. Notwithstanding the absence of a proper fluid–solid phase transition, we found that the system exhibits a complex behaviour, with ‘anomalies’ in the density and in the thermodynamic response functions which closely recall those observed in bulk and confined liquid water. We also discuss the emergence in the cold fluid under compression of an unusual structural regime, characterized by density correlations reminiscent of the ordered arrangements found in clustered crystals.

Keywords:

• one-dimensional models
• Gaussian-core model
• clustered crystals
• water-like anomalies

Acknowledgments

One of the authors (PVG) wishes to thank Professor Luciano Reatto – to whom this paper is presented as a homage for this special issue in his honour – for his long-lasting friendship, which has accompanied the author across the years. Luciano has always been a guide and an inspiring example, not only for his wide and acknowledged scientific competence but also for his severe and demanding attitude towards academic research, as well as for his enduring service to the Italian condensed-matter-physics community.