Abstract:
The classical molecular dynamics method has been used to study a thermodynamic system of hard spheres occurring near an ideal wall. It is established that, at an initial mean number density of spheres above a certain value, the system exhibits relaxation to an equilibrium state that consists of two phases. The closer the wall, hard spheres form a primitive pyramidal crystal belonging to a trigonal system; farther from the wall, hard spheres occur in an anisotropic liquid phase that is separated from the crystal by a transition layer. As the mean density increases, the process of crystallization in the configuration space takes place and the system passes to a new equilibrium state with increased thickness of the near-wall crystalline layer, at unchanged densities of both the crystal and isotropic liquid phase.
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