HIGH-TEMPERATURE PHASE-DIAGRAM OF THE FULLERENE C-60

A density-functional approximation is used to study the high-temperature phase diagram of a system of fullerene C60 molecules which are considered as rigid spheres interacting via the Girifalco [J. Phys. Chem. %, 858 (1992)] potential. We discuss the theoretical predictions together with the contradictory results given by computer simulations on the existence of a conventional liquid phase for the fullerene C60. Theory cannot definitively settle this point but the predictions for the melting and freezing lines are in quite good quantitative agreement with simulations results.