Communication: Low-temperature approximation of the virial series for the Lennard-Jones and modified Lennard-Jones models

The regularity of the existing data on the virial coefficients for the Lennard-Jones and modified Lennard-Jones models has allowed a rough extrapolation to the coefficients of higher orders. The corresponding approximation of the infinite virial series has been proposed for the limited temperature interval: 0.4-0.8 of the critical temperature. The loci of zero points of isothermal bulk modulus obtained on the basis of this approximation are close to the vapor-liquid branch of the experimental binodal rather than spinodal. In addition, those points ((dP/dV)(T) = 0) almost coincide with the divergence points of the approximated virial series that may eliminate some disputable questions about the boundaries of adequacy for the virial equation of state and makes the theoretical isotherms qualitatively similar to the real in the condensation region. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.