Degenerate Fluid Polyamorphism Induced by Symmetrical Molecular Interconversion

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Main Authors: Anisimov, Mikhail A., Buldyrev, Sergey V., Caupin, Frédéric, Longo, Thomas J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Anisimov, Mikhail A.
Buldyrev, Sergey V.
Caupin, Frédéric
Longo, Thomas J.
author_facet Anisimov, Mikhail A.
Buldyrev, Sergey V.
Caupin, Frédéric
Longo, Thomas J.
contents Fluid polyamorphism is the existence of multiple fluid-fluid phase transitions in a single-component substance. It can occur due to interconversion between two alternative molecular or supramolecular states. In this work, we investigate a special (``degenerate'') case of fluid polyamorphism, in which all three characteristic parameters of the interconversion equilibrium constant, i.e. the changes of energy, entropy, and volume, are zero. This feature of interconversion is typical for the Ising spin model of ferromagnets but is also observed in a polyamorphic chiral fluid mixture of interconverting enantiomers. To investigate the consequences of interconversion's degeneration for fluid polyamorphism, we have performed a meanfield analysis and 3D Monte Carlo simulations of a compressible binary lattice with interconverting species (referred to as the ``blinking-checkers model''), which generally demonstrates the existence of both liquid-gas and liquid-liquid transitions. By tuning the interaction parameters, we have demonstrated that, in the degenerate interconverting case, a coupling between the fraction of interconversion (a vector-like nonconserved order parameter) and the total density (a scalar conserved order parameter) may produce a symmetrical tricritical point. At this point, the line of second-order transitions between two fluids, ``disordered'' (with 50:50 interconversion) and ``ordered'' (with temperature and pressure dependent interconversion fraction), is terminated by first-order transitions between the fluid states. This point exhibits the typical features of symmetrical tricritical points as observed in a superfluid mixture of helium isotopes and in some magnetic materials. We also show that the transition between the ordered and disordered fluid could occur in either the liquid or the gaseous phase.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_12138
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Degenerate Fluid Polyamorphism Induced by Symmetrical Molecular Interconversion
Anisimov, Mikhail A.
Buldyrev, Sergey V.
Caupin, Frédéric
Longo, Thomas J.
Soft Condensed Matter
Fluid polyamorphism is the existence of multiple fluid-fluid phase transitions in a single-component substance. It can occur due to interconversion between two alternative molecular or supramolecular states. In this work, we investigate a special (``degenerate'') case of fluid polyamorphism, in which all three characteristic parameters of the interconversion equilibrium constant, i.e. the changes of energy, entropy, and volume, are zero. This feature of interconversion is typical for the Ising spin model of ferromagnets but is also observed in a polyamorphic chiral fluid mixture of interconverting enantiomers. To investigate the consequences of interconversion's degeneration for fluid polyamorphism, we have performed a meanfield analysis and 3D Monte Carlo simulations of a compressible binary lattice with interconverting species (referred to as the ``blinking-checkers model''), which generally demonstrates the existence of both liquid-gas and liquid-liquid transitions. By tuning the interaction parameters, we have demonstrated that, in the degenerate interconverting case, a coupling between the fraction of interconversion (a vector-like nonconserved order parameter) and the total density (a scalar conserved order parameter) may produce a symmetrical tricritical point. At this point, the line of second-order transitions between two fluids, ``disordered'' (with 50:50 interconversion) and ``ordered'' (with temperature and pressure dependent interconversion fraction), is terminated by first-order transitions between the fluid states. This point exhibits the typical features of symmetrical tricritical points as observed in a superfluid mixture of helium isotopes and in some magnetic materials. We also show that the transition between the ordered and disordered fluid could occur in either the liquid or the gaseous phase.
title Degenerate Fluid Polyamorphism Induced by Symmetrical Molecular Interconversion
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.12138