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The nucleation rates derived for the condensation from a supersaturated vapor are examined both in the classical theory and in the modern coarse-grained field theory. By virtue of the scaling variable $\lambda_Z$ it is shown that the method…
Quantum crystals abound in the whole range of solid-state species. Below a certain threshold temperature the physical behavior of rare gases (4He and Ne), molecular solids (H2 and CH4), and some ionic (LiH), covalent (graphite), and…
Studies of nucleation generally focus on the properties of the critical cluster, but the presence of defects within the crystal lattice means that the population of nuclei necessarily evolve through a distribution of pre-critical clusters…
We study the spontaneous nucleation and crystallization of linear and cyclic chains of flexibly connected hard spheres using extensive molecular dynamics simulations. To this end, we present a novel event-driven molecular dynamics…
The prediction of material structure from chemical composition has been a long-standing challenge in natural science. Although there have been various methodological developments and successes with computer simulations, the prediction of…
Over the last number of years several simulation methods have been introduced to study rare events such as nucleation. In this paper we examine the crystal nucleation rate of hard spheres using three such numerical techniques: molecular…
The evaluation of nucleation rates from molecular dynamics trajectories is hampered by the slow nucleation time scale and impact of finite size effects. Here, we show that accurate nucleation rates can be obtained in a very general fashion…
While statistical mechanics provides a comprehensive framework for the understanding of equilibrium phase behavior, predicting the kinetics of phase transformations remains a challenge. Classical nucleation theory (CNT) provides a…
A recent description of diffusion-limited nucleation based on fluctuating hydrodynamics that extends classical nucleation theory predicts a very non-classical two-step scenario whereby nucleation is most likely to occur in…
Nucleation is an activated process in which the system has to overcome a free energy barrier in order for a first-order phase transition between the metastable and the stable phases to take place. In the liquid-to-solid transition the…
Combined with the principle of entropy maximum and CS state equation, the critical size for a cluster to nucleate then the critical volume fraction of a phase transition is determined in this paper, and our result is in good agreement with…
Crystallization is one of the most important physicochemical processes which has relevance in material science, biology, and the environment. Decades of experimental and theoretical efforts have been made to understand this fundamental…
Nucleation phenomena commonly observed in our every day life are of fundamental, technological and societal importance in many areas, but some of their most intimate mechanisms remain however to be unravelled. Crystal nucleation, the early…
Accurate estimate of nucleation rate is crucial for the study of ice nucleation and ice-promoting/anti-freeze strategies. Within the framework of Classical Nucleation Theory (CNT), the estimate of ice nucleation rate is very sensitive to…
The crystal nucleation from liquid in most cases is too rare to be accessed within the limited timescales of the conventional molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Here, we developed a "persistent embryo" method to facilitate crystal…
The thermodynamics and kinetics of crystallization of nanoparticles, as opposed to bulk phases, may be influenced by surface and size effects. We investigate the importance of such factors in the crystallization process of gold, silver, and…
The nucleation rate derived in the classical theory contains at least one undetermined parameter, which may be expressed in terms of the Langer first-principles theory. But the uncertainties in the accounting for fluctuation modes, which…
Properties of atomic nuclei important for the prediction of astrophysical reaction rates are reviewed. In the first part, a recent simulation of evolution and nucleosynthesis of stars between 15 and 25 solar masses is presented. This study…
We used molecular dynamics simulations and the path sampling technique known as forward flux sampling to study homogeneous nucleation of NaCl crystals from supersaturated aqueous solutions at 298 K and 1 bar. Nucleation rates were obtained…
This paper investigates the importance of radiative corrections for first-order phase transitions, with particular focus on the bubble-nucleation rate. All calculations are done with a strict power-counting, and observables are consistently…