2006/09/30 by L. A. Fernández, L. A. Fernandez, V. Martin-Mayor +2 · 1 citation
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Material Dynamics and Properties #Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamics #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.98.085702
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 085702 (2007) · Version to be published in Physical Review Letters
arxiv created 2007/01/26 · openalex publication_date 2007/02/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The phase diagram of soft spheres with size dispersion is studied by means of an optimized Monte Carlo algorithm which allows us to equilibrate below the kinetic glass transition for all size distributions. The system ubiquitously undergoes a first-order freezing transition. While for a small size dispersion the frozen phase has a crystalline structure, large density inhomogeneities appear in the highly disperse systems. Studying the interplay between the equilibrium phase diagram and the kinetic glass transition, we argue that the experimentally found terminal polydispersity of colloids is a purely kinetic phenomenon.