6533b823fe1ef96bd127e06e

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Numerical investigations of complex nano-systems

subject

description

The nature of the melting transition for a system of hard disks with translational degrees of freedom in two spatial dimensions has been analysed by a combination of computer simulation methods and a finite size scaling technique. The behaviour of the system is consistent with the predictions of the Kosterlitz–Thouless–Halperin–Nelson–Young (KTHNY) theory. The structural and elastic properties of binary colloidal mixtures in two and three spatial dimensions are discussed as well as those of colloidal systems with quenched point impurities. Hard and soft disks in external periodic (light) fields show rich phase diagrams, including freezing and melting transitions when the density of the system is varied. Using Monte Carlo simulation methods we have investigated the phase diagrams of such systems for various values of the density and the amplitude of the external potential. The conductance quantization of atomic Au wires is discussed as well as the properties of Si clusters.