He thermophysical properties: New ab initio calculations

Abstract

Since 2000, atomic physicists have reduced the uncertainty of the helium-helium "ab initio" potential; for example, from approximately 0.6 % to 0.1 % at 4 bohr, and from 0.8 % to 0.1 % at 5.6 bohr. These results led us to: (1) construct a new interatomic potential φ07, (2) recalculate values of the second virial coefficient, the viscosity, and the thermal conductivity of He from 1 K to 10,000 K, and (3), analyze the uncertainties of the thermophysical properties that propagate from the uncertainty of φ07 and from the Born-Oppcnheimer approximation of the electron-nucleon quantum mechanical system. We correct minor errors in a previous publication [J. J. Hurly and M. R. Moldover, J. Res. Nat. Inst. Standards Technol. 105, 667 (2000)] and compare our results with selected data published after 2000. The ab initio results tabulated here can serve as standards for the measurement of thermophysical properties.