Two-dimensional core-softened model with water like properties: Monte Carlo and integral equation study

Abstract

Monte Carlo simulations and integral equation theory were used to study the thermodynamics and structure of particles interacting through the smooth version of Stell-Hemmer interaction. We checked the possibility that a fluid with a core-softened potential reproduces anomalies of liquid water such as the density anomaly, the minimum in the isothermal compressibility as a function of temperature, and others. Critical points of the fluid were also determined. We showed that a potential with two characteristic distances is sufficient for the system to exhibit water-like behavior and anomalies, including the famous density maximum. We also showed that some versions of the integral equation theory completely fail to predict structure of such system, while others only predict it qualitatively. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.