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Computer Simulation Study of Nanoscale Size Parahydrogen Clusters

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Abstract

We present results of computer simulations of a parahydrogen cluster of a thousand molecules, corresponding to approximately 4 nm in diameter, at temperatures between 1 and 10  K. Examination of structural properties suggests that the local environment experienced by molecules is very similar to that in solid bulk parahydrogen, especially near the center of the cluster, where crystallization originates. Albeit strongly suppressed compared to helium, quantum-mechanical exchanges are not entirely negligible at the lowest temperature, resulting in a small but significant molecular mobility enhancement with respect to the bulk crystalline phase. Although the overall superfluid response at the lowest temperature is only few percents, there is evidence of a surprising “supersolid” core, as well as of a superfluid outer shell. Much like in fluid parahydrogen at the melting temperature, quantum-mechanical signatures can be detected in the momentum distribution.

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Notes

  1. There are neither theoretical predictions nor experimental evidence suggesting that a p-H2 crystal might display superfluid behavior. See, for instance, See Ref. [2].

  2. The superfluid fraction of a finite cluster is defined as \(\rho _\mathrm{S}=1-(I/I_\mathrm{cl})\), where I is the moment of inertia of the cluster with respect of the rotation axis, and \(I_\mathrm{cl}\) is its corresponding classical value. For details of its evaluation in path integral Monte Carlo simulations, see Ref. [15].

  3. Specific clusters, e.g., (p-H2)\(_{26}\) have been predicted to display simultaneously superfluidity and a geometrically regular ordering of molecules (Ref. [24]).

  4. For recent refinements of the SG potential, see Ref. [35].

  5. See, for instance, Ref. [38].

  6. It is difficult to furnish precise estimates of the local superfluid density in the \(r\rightarrow 0\) limit, due to the limited statistics that can be accumulated in such a limited volume, in the course of a reasonable simulation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The author gratefully acknowledges the hospitality of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, where most of this research work was carried out.

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  1. Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1, Canada

    Massimo Boninsegni

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  1. Massimo Boninsegni
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Correspondence to Massimo Boninsegni.

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Boninsegni, M. Computer Simulation Study of Nanoscale Size Parahydrogen Clusters. J Low Temp Phys 195, 51–59 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-018-2109-7

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