Equilibrium fluctuations of the Lennard-Jones cluster surface.
Spectra of the cluster surface equilibrium fluctuations are treated by decomposition into the bulk and net capillary ones. The bulk fluctuations without capillary ones are simulated by the surface of a cluster truncated by a sphere. The bulk fluctuation spectrum is shown to be generated primarily by the discontinuity in the spatial distribution of cluster internal particles. The net capillary fluctuation slice spectrum is obtained in molecular dynamics simulation by subtraction of the bulk fluctuation spectrum from the total one. This net spectrum is in the best agreement with a theoretical estimation if we assume the intrinsic surface tension to be independent of the wave number. The wave number cutoff is brought in balance with the intrinsic surface tension and excess surface area induced by the capillary fluctuations. It is shown that the ratio of the ordinary surface tension to the intrinsic one can be considered as a universal constant independent of the temperature and cluster size.
Zhukhovitskii
D I
DI
Joint Institute of High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia. dmrzhu@yandex.ru