Density and structural anomalies in soft-repulsive dimeric fluids

Abstract

We report Monte Carlo results for the fluid structure of a system of dimeric particles interacting via a core-softened potential. More specifically, dimers interact through a repulsive pair potential of an inverse-power form, modified in such a way that the repulsion strength is softened for a given range of distances. The aim of such a study is to investigate how both the elongation of the dimers and the softness of the potential affect some features of the model. Our results show that the dimeric fluid exhibits both density and structural anomalies, even if the interaction is not characterized by two length scales. Upon increasing the aspect ratio of the dimers, such anomalies are progressively hindered, with the structural anomaly surviving even after the disappearance of the density anomaly. These results shed light on the peculiar behaviour of molecular systems of non-spherical shape, showing how geometrical and interaction parameters play a fundamental role in determining the presence of anomalies.