MONTE-CARLO STUDY OF FLUID PLASTIC CRYSTAL COEXISTENCE IN HARD DUMBBELLS

The fluid-cubic plastic crystal coexistence curve for the hard dumbbell model is determined from Monte Carlo simulations. A transition to a stable plastic crystal phase is found for reduced bond lengths L/σ<0.4. A metastable plastic crystal is observed at slightly longer bond lengths. Orientational correlations in both the fully ordered and plastic crystal phase are examined. This is the first calculation of the complete coexistence curve between two phases as a function of particle anisotropy. This information permits detailed comparison with several recent density functional theory predictions for the same transition. © 1990 American institute of Physics.