6533b862fe1ef96bd12c6188

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Isotropic–isotropic phase separation in mixtures of rods and spheres: Some aspects of Monte Carlo simulation in the grand canonical ensemble

Swetlana JungblutKurt BinderTanja Schilling

subject

Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed MatterPhysicsCanonical ensembleHybrid Monte CarloGrand canonical ensembleHardware and ArchitectureQuantum Monte CarloMonte Carlo methodDynamic Monte Carlo methodGeneral Physics and AstronomyKinetic Monte CarloStatistical physicsMonte Carlo molecular modeling

description

Abstract In this article we consider mixtures of non-adsorbing polymers and rod-like colloids in the isotropic phase, which upon the addition of polymers show an effective attraction via depletion forces. Above a certain concentration, the depletant causes phase separation of the mixture. We performed Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the phase boundaries of isotropic–isotropic coexistence. To determine the phase boundaries we simulated in the grand canonical ensemble using successive umbrella sampling [J. Chem. Phys. 120 (2004) 10925]. The location of the critical point was estimated by a finite size scaling analysis. In order to equilibrate the system efficiently, we used a cluster move in which rods and spheres were exchanged.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2008-07-01Computer Physics Communications
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2008.01.003