We were able to reproduce the experimental behavior in the MD simulation,
i.e. we observed cluster formation and growth. Unfortunately we were not
able to perform the runs with the Nosé-Hoover thermostat and pressure
control, yet. It would be particular interesting to study the system in the
case of a true isobaric-isenthalpic (,
,
) or isothermal-isobaric
(
,
,
) ensemble. This would allow us for instance to calculate the work of
expansion during cluster formation and growth. Due to constraints in time and
computing power we had to restrict ourselves to a relatively small system.
Especially to improve the statistics the simulation of a bigger system would
be favorable.
The comparison between simulations and experiment is difficult in this case.
Experiments are performed at pressures of the order kbar
while simulations work with pressures tens of orders bigger.
We would like to thank Robert Averback, Yinon Ashkenazy and Pavel Krasnochtchekov for their help and support.