Modified Morse potential for unification of the pair interactions

We designed a novel model potential that unifies the pair interactions including the well known Morse and Lennard-Jones potentials. Using two parameters, the interactions at the minimum, short range, and long range of the new model potential can be controlled separately, so the potential is very flexible to fit various systems. It is found that for potentials with similar range with the Lennard-Jones potential at the minimum, due to the difference at the short and long ranges, the favorite structures can be very different, and some previously unknown magic numbers are located. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.