The Mayer theory of condensation tested against a simple model of the imperfect gas

Abstract

A very simple model of an imperfect gas, analogous to the Weiss model of a ferromagnetic, is used to check various conflicting conclusions about the relationship between the condensation of an imperfect gas and the divergence of Mayer's virial series. For this model, the divergence of the virial series has no physical significance, and the interpretations of this divergence suggested by Mayer and by Born and Green are both incorrect. The model also turns out to be one for which care is necessary in going to the limit of a very large assembly.