Virial pressure: Difference between revisions

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where <math>p</math> is the pressure, <math>T</math> is the [[temperature]], <math>V</math> is the volume and <math>k_B</math> is the [[Boltzmann constant]].
where <math>p</math> is the pressure, <math>T</math> is the [[temperature]], <math>V</math> is the volume and <math>k_B</math> is the [[Boltzmann constant]].
In this equation one can recognize an [[Equation of State: Ideal Gas |ideal gas]] contribution, and a second term due to the [[virial]]. The overline is an average, which would be a time average in molecular dynamics, or an ensemble  average in [[Monte Carlo]]; <math>d</math> is the dimension of the system (3 in the "real" world). <math> {\mathbf f}_{ij} </math> is the force '''on''' particle <math>i</math> exerted '''by''' particle <math>j</math>, and <math>{\mathbf r}_{ij}</math> is the vector going '''from''' <math>i</math> '''to''' <math>j</math>: <math>{\mathbf r}_{ij} = {\mathbf r}_j - {\mathbf r}_i</math>.
In this equation one can recognize an [[Equation of State: Ideal Gas |ideal gas]] contribution, and a second term due to the [[Virial theorem |virial]]. The overline is an average, which would be a time average in molecular dynamics, or an ensemble  average in [[Monte Carlo]]; <math>d</math> is the dimension of the system (3 in the "real" world). <math> {\mathbf f}_{ij} </math> is the force '''on''' particle <math>i</math> exerted '''by''' particle <math>j</math>, and <math>{\mathbf r}_{ij}</math> is the vector going '''from''' <math>i</math> '''to''' <math>j</math>: <math>{\mathbf r}_{ij} = {\mathbf r}_j - {\mathbf r}_i</math>.


This relationship is readily obtained by writing the [[partition function]] in "reduced coordinates", i.e. <math>x^*=x/L</math>, etc, then considering a "blow-up" of the system by changing the value of <math>L</math>. This would apply to a simple cubic system, but the same ideas can also be applied to obtain expressions for the [[stress | stress tensor]] and the [[surface tension]], and are also used in [[constant-pressure Monte Carlo]].
This relationship is readily obtained by writing the [[partition function]] in "reduced coordinates", i.e. <math>x^*=x/L</math>, etc, then considering a "blow-up" of the system by changing the value of <math>L</math>. This would apply to a simple cubic system, but the same ideas can also be applied to obtain expressions for the [[stress | stress tensor]] and the [[surface tension]], and are also used in [[constant-pressure Monte Carlo]].

Revision as of 15:16, 18 May 2011

The virial pressure is commonly used to obtain the pressure from a general simulation. It is particularly well suited to molecular dynamics, since forces are evaluated and readily available. For pair interactions, one has:

where is the pressure, is the temperature, is the volume and is the Boltzmann constant. In this equation one can recognize an ideal gas contribution, and a second term due to the virial. The overline is an average, which would be a time average in molecular dynamics, or an ensemble average in Monte Carlo; is the dimension of the system (3 in the "real" world). is the force on particle exerted by particle , and is the vector going from to : .

This relationship is readily obtained by writing the partition function in "reduced coordinates", i.e. , etc, then considering a "blow-up" of the system by changing the value of . This would apply to a simple cubic system, but the same ideas can also be applied to obtain expressions for the stress tensor and the surface tension, and are also used in constant-pressure Monte Carlo.

If the interaction is central, the force is given by

where the force corresponding to the intermolecular potential :

For example, for the Lennard-Jones potential, . Hence, the expression reduces to

Notice that most realistic potentials are attractive at long ranges; hence the first correction to the ideal pressure will be a negative contribution: the second virial coefficient. On the other hand, contributions from purely repulsive potentials, such as hard spheres, are always positive.

See also