MELTING OF YUKAWA SYSTEMS - A TEST OF PHENOMENOLOGICAL MELTING CRITERIA

The melting transition of particles interacting via a Yukawa potential is determined from the evolution of systems containing coexisting solid and fluid phases. There is no nucleation barrier, and the stable phase expands rapidly to fill the system. Results for the phase boundary agree with recent free energy calculations, and are used to test the Lindemann and Hansen-Verlet criteria for melting. A third criterion related to the Debye-Waller factor of the smallest reciprocal lattice vector is also identified.