Communication: A packing of truncated tetrahedra that nearly fills all of space and its melting properties

被引：27

作者：

Jiao, Yang ^{[1
]}

Torquato, Salvatore ^{[1
,2
]}

机构：

[1] Princeton Univ, Princeton Inst Sci & Technol Mat, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA

[2] Princeton Univ, Princeton Ctr Theoret Sci, Dept Chem & Phys, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA

来源：

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS | 2011年 / 135卷 / 15期

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

colloids; melting; NANOPARTICLES; CRYSTALLINE;

D O I：

10.1063/1.3653938

中图分类号：

O64 [物理化学（理论化学）、化学物理学];

学科分类号：

070304 ; 081704 ;

摘要：

Dense polyhedron packings are useful models of a variety of condensed matter and biological systems and have intrigued scientists and mathematicians for centuries. Here, we analytically construct the densest known packing of truncated tetrahedra with a remarkably high packing fraction phi = 207/208 = 0.995192..., which is amazingly close to unity and strongly implies its optimality. This construction is based on a generalized organizing principle for polyhedra lacking central symmetry that we introduce here. The "holes" in the putative optimal packing are perfect tetrahedra, which leads to a new tessellation of space by truncated tetrahedra and tetrahedra. Its packing characteristics and equilibrium melting properties as the system undergoes decompression are discussed. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3653938]

引用

页数：4