Related papers: Free-energy REconstruction from Stable Clusters (F…
A common approach to study nucleation rates is the estimation of free-energy barriers. This usually requires knowledge about the shape of the forming droplet, a task that becomes notoriously difficult in macromolecular setups starting with…
We reconsider the applicability of classical nucleation theory (CNT) to the calculation of the free energy of solid cluster formation in a liquid and its use to the evaluation of interface free energies from nucleation barriers. Using two…
Recent very large molecular dynamics simulations of homogeneous nucleation with $(1-8) \cdot 10^9$ Lennard-Jones atoms [Diemand et al. J. Chem. Phys. {\bf 139}, 074309 (2013)] allow us to accurately determine the formation free energy of…
Predicting crystal nucleation is among the most significant long--standing challenges in condensed matter. In the system most studied (hard sphere colloids), the comparison between experiments performed using static light scattering and…
We investigate the kinetics and the free energy landscape of the crystallization of hard spheres from a supersaturated metastable liquid though direct simulations and forward flux sampling. In this first paper, we describe and test two…
The crystallisation of entangled polymers from their melt is investigated using computer simulation with a coarse-grained model. Using hybrid Monte Carlo simulations enables us to probe the behaviour of long polymer chains. We identify…
Clustering plays an important role in the structure of nuclei, especially for light nuclei in the $p$-shell. In nuclear cluster models these degrees of freedom are introduced explicitly. In the Resonating Group Method or in the Generator…
Using the entropy $S$ as a reaction coordinate, we determine the free energy barrier associated with the formation of a liquid droplet from a supersaturated vapor for atomic and molecular fluids. For this purpose, we develop the $\mu VT-S$…
We investigate the nucleation dynamics of the three-dimensional random field Ising model (RFIM) under an external field. We use umbrella sampling to compute the free-energy cost of a critical nucleus, and use forward flux sampling for the…
Molecular dynamics simulations are widely used to investigate nucleation in first-order phase transitions. Brute-force simulations, though popular, are limited to conditions of high metastability, where the critical cluster and the…
Monte Carlo simulations of crystal nuclei coexisting with the fluid phase in thermal equilibrium in finite volumes are presented and analyzed, for fluid densities from dense melts to the vapor. Generalizing the lever-rule for two-phase…
We introduce a new method to simulate the physics of rare events. The method, an extension of the Temperature Accelerated Molecular Dynamics, comes in use when the collective variables introduced to characterize the rare events are either…
We simulate the homogeneous nucleation of ice from supercooled liquid water at 220 K in the isobaric-isothermal ensemble using the MW monatomic water potential. Monte Carlo simulations using umbrella sampling are performed in order to…
We study the nucleation of crystalline cluster phases in the generalized exponential model with exponent n=4. Due to the finite value of this pair potential for zero separation, at high densities the system forms cluster crystals with…
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…
Free energy landscapes provide insights into conformational ensembles of biomolecules. In order to analyze these landscapes and elucidate mechanisms underlying conformational changes, there is a need to extract metastable states with…
In standard nucleation theory, the nucleation process is characterized by computing $\Delta\Omega(V)$, the reversible work required to form a cluster of volume $V$ of the stable phase inside the metastable mother phase. However, other…
Nucleation at large metastability is still largely an unsolved problem, although is a problem of tremendous current interest, with wide practical value. It is well-accepted that the classical nucleation theory (CNT) fails to provide a…
Using molecular simulation, we study the nucleation of liquid droplets from binary mixtures and determine the free energy of nucleation along entropic pathways. To this aim, we develop the $\mu_1 \mu_2 VT-S$ method, based on the…
Using computer simulations, we validate a simple free energy model that can be analytically solved to predict the equilibrium size of self-limiting clusters of particles in the fluid state governed by a combination of short-range attractive…