FBSD Simulation of Liquid Neon

Sizable quantum effects are observed in the case of liquid neon near its triple point. FBSD simulations were performed at 29.9 K with a density of 0.03755 Å-3. Interactions between neon atoms are described by a Lennard-Jones potential.

The velocity autocorrelation function for liquid neon. Red line: real part of the FBSD simulation. Blue line: imaginary part of the FBSD result. Yellow dashed line: classical results.

As the initial value of the correlation function shows, the kinetic energy is about 25% higher in the quantum system than in the classical system. Also, the magnitude of the imaginary part of the correlation function reaches a height equal to about 40% of the initial value of the real part, indicating a significant quantum character at this state point. The correlation function decays faster than that in a classical system. When the diffusion process is viewed as a sequence of two-body collisions, this observed faster decay can be explained by a larger effective cross section in the quantum system, an effect attributable to quantum dispersion.