On the role played by electrons in the stress-strain curves of ideal crystalline solids

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Marsili, Margherita, Damiani, Elisa, Ave, Davide Dalle, Losi, Gabriele, Righi, M. Clelia
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Marsili, Margherita
Damiani, Elisa
Ave, Davide Dalle
Losi, Gabriele
Righi, M. Clelia
author_facet Marsili, Margherita
Damiani, Elisa
Ave, Davide Dalle
Losi, Gabriele
Righi, M. Clelia
contents The mechanical properties of a solid, which relate its deformation to external applied forces, are key factors in enabling or disabling the use of an otherwise optimal material in any application, strongly influencing also its service lifetime. Intrinsic crystal deformation mechanisms, investigated experimentally on single crystals with low dislocation densities, have been studied theoretically through atomistic simulations, mainly focusing on lattice-induced instabilities. Here, instead, we employ density functional theory and a thermodynamic analysis to probe and analyze the way in which the electronic charge of crystalline solids (Cu, Al and diamond) responds to uniaxial strain and affects their mechanical properties. Indeed, despite the very simple nature of our models, and in the presence of minimal atomic displacements, we find that the stress strain curves of Cu and Al deviate from a simple linear elastic behavior. Within a thermodynamics perspective, the features of such curves can be interpreted in terms of first and second order phase transitions, which originate from Van-Hove singularities of the electronic density of states crossing the Fermi level and electron redistribution within the solid, respectively.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_19043
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the role played by electrons in the stress-strain curves of ideal crystalline solids
Marsili, Margherita
Damiani, Elisa
Ave, Davide Dalle
Losi, Gabriele
Righi, M. Clelia
Materials Science
The mechanical properties of a solid, which relate its deformation to external applied forces, are key factors in enabling or disabling the use of an otherwise optimal material in any application, strongly influencing also its service lifetime. Intrinsic crystal deformation mechanisms, investigated experimentally on single crystals with low dislocation densities, have been studied theoretically through atomistic simulations, mainly focusing on lattice-induced instabilities. Here, instead, we employ density functional theory and a thermodynamic analysis to probe and analyze the way in which the electronic charge of crystalline solids (Cu, Al and diamond) responds to uniaxial strain and affects their mechanical properties. Indeed, despite the very simple nature of our models, and in the presence of minimal atomic displacements, we find that the stress strain curves of Cu and Al deviate from a simple linear elastic behavior. Within a thermodynamics perspective, the features of such curves can be interpreted in terms of first and second order phase transitions, which originate from Van-Hove singularities of the electronic density of states crossing the Fermi level and electron redistribution within the solid, respectively.
title On the role played by electrons in the stress-strain curves of ideal crystalline solids
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.19043