Kinetic density functional theory of freezing

Abstract

A theory of freezing of a dense hard sphere gas is presented. Starting from a revised Enskog theory, hydrodynamic equations that account for non-local variations in the density but local variations in the flow field are derived using a modified Chapman Enskog procedure. These hydrodynamic equations, which retain structural correlations, are shown to be effectively a time dependent density functional theory. The ability of this theory to capture the solid liquid phase transition is established through analysis and numerical simulations.