Optimized Monotonic Convex Pair Potentials Stabilize Low-Coordinated Crystals

Etienne Marcotte; Frank H. Stillinger; Salvatore Torquato

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arXiv · 1010.6293

Optimized Monotonic Convex Pair Potentials Stabilize Low-Coordinated Crystals

Etienne Marcotte·Frank H. Stillinger·Salvatore Torquato

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Abstract

We have previously used inverse statistical-mechanical methods to optimize isotropic pair interactions with multiple extrema to yield low-coordinated crystal classical ground states (e.g., honeycomb and diamond structures) in d-dimensional Euclidean space R^d. Here we demonstrate the counterintuitive result that no extrema are required to produce such low-coordinated classical ground states. Specifically, we show that monotonic convex pair potentials can be optimized to yield classical ground states that are the square and honeycomb crystals in R^2 over a non-zero number density range. Such interactions may be feasible to achieve experimentally using colloids and polymers.

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BibTeX RIS

Etienne Marcotte, Frank H. Stillinger, Salvatore Torquato. 2010-10-29. Optimized Monotonic Convex Pair Potentials Stabilize Low-Coordinated Crystals. https://arxiv.org/abs/1010.6293

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