arXiv subjects

Riccardo Fantoni

Publications and source records attributed to Riccardo Fantoni.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Depletion force in the infinite-dilution limit in a solvent of nonadditive hard spheres

The mutual entropic depletion force felt by two solute "big" hard spheres immersed in a binary mixture solvent of nonadditive "small" hard spheres is calculated as a function of the surface-to-surface distance by means of canonical Monte Carlo simulations and through a recently proposed rational-function approximation [Phys. Rev. E \textbf{84}, 041201 (2011)]. Four representative scenarios are investigated: symmetric solute particles and the limit where one of the two solute spheres becomes a planar hard wall, in both cases with symmetric and asymmetric solvents. In all cases, the influence on the depletion force due to the nonadditivity in the solvent is determined in the mixed state. Comparison between results from the theoretical approximation and from the simulation shows a good agreement for surface-to-surface distances greater than the smallest solvent diameter.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Phase diagrams of Janus fluids with up-down constrained orientations

A class of binary mixtures of Janus fluids formed by colloidal spheres with the hydrophobic hemispheres constrained to point either up or down are studied by means of Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulations and simple analytical approximations. These fluids can be experimentally realized by the application of an external static electrical field. The gas-liquid and demixing phase transitions in five specific models with different patch-patch affinities are analyzed. It is found that a gas-liquid transition is present in all the models, even if only one of the four possible patch-patch interactions is attractive. Moreover, provided the attraction between like particles is stronger than between unlike particles, the system demixes into two subsystems with different composition at sufficiently low temperatures and high densities.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Monte Carlo simulation of the nonadditive restricted primitive model of ionic fluids: Phase diagram and clustering

We report an accurate Monte Carlo calculation of the phase diagram and clustering properties of the restricted primitive model with non-additive hard-sphere diameters. At high density the positively non-additive fluid shows more clustering than the additive model and the negatively non-additive fluid shows less clustering than the additive model, at low density the reverse scenario appears. A negative nonadditivity tends to favor the formation of neutrally charged clusters starting from the dipole. A positive nonadditivity favors the pairing of like ions at high density. The critical point of the gas-liquid phase transition moves at higher temperatures and higher densities for a negative nonadditivity and at lower temperatures and lower densities for a positive nonadditivity. The law of corresponding states does not seem to hold strictly. Our results can be used to interpret recent experimental works on room temperature ionic liquids.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Radial distribution function in a diffusion Monte Carlo simulation of a Fermion fluid between the ideal gas and the Jellium model

We study, through the diffusion Monte Carlo method, a spin one-half fermion fluid, in the three dimensional Euclidean space, at zero temperature. The point particles, immersed in a uniform "neutralizing" background, interact with a pair-potential which can be continuously changed from zero to the Coulomb potential depending on a parameter $μ$. We determine the radial distribution functions of the system for various values of density, $μ$, and polarization. We discuss about the importance, in a computer experiment, of the choice of suitable estimators to measure a physical quantity. The radial distribution function is determined through the usual histrogram estimator and through an estimator determined via the use of the Hellmann and Feynman theorem. In a diffusion Monte Carlo simulation the latter route introduces a new bias to the measure of the radial distribution function due to the choice of the auxiliary function. This bias is independent from the usual one due to the choice of the trial wave function. A brief account of the results from this study were presented in a recent communication [R. Fantoni, Solid State Communications, {\bf 159}, 106 (2013)].

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Multicomponent fluid of nonadditive hard spheres near a wall

A recently proposed rational-function approximation [Phys. Rev. E \textbf{84}, 041201 (2011)] for the structural properties of nonadditive hard spheres is applied to evaluate analytically (in Laplace space) the local density profiles of multicomponent nonadditive hard-sphere mixtures near a planar nonadditive hard wall. The theory is assessed by comparison with $NVT$ Monte Carlo simulations of binary mixtures with a size ratio 1:3 in three possible scenarios: a mixture with either positive or negative nonadditivity near an additive wall, an additive mixture with a nonadditive wall, and a nonadditive mixture with a nonadditive wall. It is observed that, while the theory tends to underestimate the local densities at contact (especially in the case of the big spheres) it captures very well the initial decay of the densities with increasing separation from the wall and the subsequent oscillations.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Janus fluid with fixed patch orientations: theory and simulations

We study thermophysical properties of a Janus fluid with constrained orientations, using analytical techniques and numerical simulations. The Janus character is modeled by means of a Kern-Frenkel potential where each sphere has one hemisphere of square-well and the other of hard-sphere character. The orientational constraint is enforced by assuming that each hemisphere can only point either North or South with equal probability. The analytical approach hinges on a mapping of the above Janus fluid onto a binary mixture interacting via a "quasi" isotropic potential. The anisotropic nature of the original Kern-Frenkel potential is reflected by the asymmetry in the interactions occurring between the unlike components of the mixture. A rational-function approximation extending the corresponding symmetric case is obtained in the sticky limit, where the square-well becomes infinitely narrow and deep, and allows a fully analytical approach. Notwithstanding the rather drastic approximations in the analytical theory, this is shown to provide a rather precise estimate of the structural and thermodynamical properties of the original Janus fluid.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

The restricted primitive model of ionic fluids with nonadditive diameters

The restricted primitive model with nonadditive hard-sphere diameters is shown to have interesting and peculiar clustering properties. We report accurate calculations of the cluster concentrations. Implementing efficient and ad hoc Monte Carlo algorithms we determine the effect of nonadditivity on both the clustering and the gas-liquid binodal. For negative nonadditivity, tending to the extreme case of completely overlapping unlike ions, the prevailing clusters are made of an even number of particles having zero total charge. For positive nonadditivity, the frustrated tendency to segregation of like particles and the reduced space available to the ions favors percolating clusters at high densities.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Hellmann and Feynman theorem versus diffusion Monte Carlo experiment

In a computer experiment the choice of suitable estimators to measure a physical quantity plays an important role. We propose a new direct route to determine estimators for observables which do not commute with the Hamiltonian. Our new route makes use of the Hellmann and Feynman theorem and in a diffusion Monte Carlo simulation it introduces a new bias to the measure due to the choice of the auxiliary function. This bias is independent from the usual one due to the choice of the trial wave function. We used our route to measure the radial distribution function of a spin one half Fermion fluid.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2012

Low temperature acoustic polaron localization

We calculate the properties of an acoustic polaron in three dimensions in thermal equilibrium at a given low temperature using the path integral Monte Carlo method. The specialized numerical method used is described in full details, thus complementing our previous paper [R. Fantoni, Phys. Rev. B {\bf 86}, 144304 (2012)], and it appears to be the first time it has been used in this context. Our results are in favor of the presence of a phase transition from a localized state to an extended state for the electron as the phonon-electron coupling constant decreases. The phase transition manifests itself with a jump discontinuity in the potential energy as a function of the coupling constant and it affects the properties of the path of the electron in imaginary time: In the weak coupling regime the electron is in an extended state whereas in the strong coupling regime it is found in a self-trapped state.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

The density of a fluid on a curved surface

We discuss the property of the number density of a fluid of particles living in a curved surface without boundaries to be constant in the thermodynamic limit. In particular we find a sufficient condition for the density to be constant along the Killing vector field generating a given isometry of the surface and the relevant necessary condition. We reinterpret the effect of a curvature on the fluid in a physical way as responsible of an external "force" acting on the particles.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2012

Low temperature acoustic polaron localization

We calculate the low temperature properties of an acoustic polaron in three dimensions in thermal equilibrium at a given temperature using a specialized path integral Monte Carlo method. In particular we find numerical evidence that the chosen Hamiltonian for the acoustic polaron describes a phase transition from a localized state to an unlocalized state for the electron as the phonons-electron coupling constant decreases. The phase transition manifests itself with a jump discontinuity in the potential energy as a function of the coupling constant. In the weak coupling regime the electron is in an extended state whereas in the strong coupling regime it is found in a self-trapped state.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

The structure of colloidosomes with tunable particle density: simulation vs experiment

Colloidosomes are created in the laboratory from a Pickering emulsion of water droplets in oil. The colloidosomes have approximately the same diameter and by choosing (hairy) particles of different diameters it is possible to control the particle density on the droplets. The experiment is performed at room temperature. The radial distribution function of the assembly of (primary) particles on the water droplet is measured in the laboratory and in a computer experiment of a fluid model of particles with pairwise interactions on the surface of a sphere.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2012

Two Component Plasma in a Flamm's Paraboloid

The two component plasma (TCP) living in a Flamm's paraboloid is studied at a value of the coupling constant $Γ=2$ for which an analytic expression for the grand canonical partition function is available. Two cases are considered, the plasma in the half surface with an insulating horizon and the plasma in the whole surface. The Green's function equation necessary to determine the $n$-particle truncated correlation functions is explicitly found. In both cases this proves too complicated to be solved analytically. So we present the method of solution reducing the problem to finding the two linearly independent solutions of a linear homogeneous second order ordinary differential equation with polynomial coefficients of high degrees. In the flat limit one recovers the solution for the structure of the TCP in a plane in the first case but the collapse of opposite charges at the horizon makes the structure of the plasma physically not well defined in the second case.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2012

A cluster theory for a Janus fluid

Recent Monte Carlo simulations on the Kern and Frenkel model of a Janus fluid have revealed that in the vapour phase there is the formation of preferred clusters made up of a well-defined number of particles: the micelles and the vesicles. A cluster theory is developed to approximate the exact clustering properties stemming from the simulations. It is shown that the theory is able to reproduce the micellisation phenomenon.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2011

Nonadditive hard-sphere fluid mixtures: A simple analytical theory

We construct a non-perturbative fully analytical approximation for the thermodynamics and the structure of nonadditive hard-sphere fluid mixtures. The method essentially lies in a heuristic extension of the Percus-Yevick solution for additive hard spheres. Extensive comparison with Monte Carlo simulation data shows a generally good agreement, especially in the case of like-like radial distribution functions.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2011

Field-theoretical approach to a dense polymer with an ideal binary mixture of clustering centers

We propose a field-theoretical approach to a polymer system immersed in an ideal mixture of clustering centers. The system contains several species of these clustering centers with different functionality, each of which connects a fixed number segments of the chain to each other. The field-theory is solved using the saddle point approximation and evaluated for dense polymer melts using the Random Phase Approximation. We find a short-ranged effective inter-segment interaction with strength dependent on the average segment density and discuss the structure factor within this approximation. We also determine the fractions of linkers of the different functionalities.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

The penetrable square-well model: extensive versus non-extensive phase

The phase diagram of the penetrable square-well fluid is investigated through Monte Carlo simulations of various nature. This model was proposed as the simplest possibility of combining bounded repulsions at short scale and short-range attractions. We prove that the model is thermodynamically stable for sufficiently low values of the penetrability parameter, and in this case the system behaves similarly to the square-well model. For larger penetration, there exists an intermediate region where the system is metastable, with well defined fluid-fluid and fluid-solid transitions, at finite size, but eventually becomes unstable in the thermodynamic limit. We characterize the unstable non-extensive phase appearing at high penetrability, where the system collapses into an isolated blob of a few clusters of many ovelapping particles each.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2011

Phase diagram of the penetrable square well-model

We study a system formed by soft colloidal spheres attracting each other via a square-well potential, using extensive Monte Carlo simulations of various nature. The softness is implemented through a reduction of the infinite part of the repulsive potential to a finite one. For sufficiently low values of the penetrability parameter we find the system to be Ruelle stable with square-well like behavior. For high values of the penetrability the system is thermodynamically unstable and collapses into an isolated blob formed by a few clusters each containing many overlapping particles. For intermediate values of the penetrability the system has a rich phase diagram with a partial lack of thermodynamic consistency.

cond-mat.soft↗