Novel procedure to determine coexistence lines by computer simulation. Application to hard-core Yukawa model for charge-stabilized colloids

Abstract

We describe a novel procedure to determine a phase coexistence line by computer simulation. The procedure combines elements of the Clausius-Clapeyron integration technique with free-energy difference calculations. As an application, the phase diagram of a simple hard-core Yukawa model of a charge-stabilized colloid, which exhibits liquid-solid and solid-solid phase coexistence lines, is computed. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.