Force constants and many-body electrostatic interactions in two-dimensional colloidal crystal

A model of a two-dimensional colloidal crystal with a hexagonal lattice, the electrostatic interactions in which are described by the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation, is considered. The calculation procedure for force constants of this crystal is treated in detail. Properties of system symmetry, which make it possible to significantly decrease the volume of calculations and to classify force constants, are analyzed. Numerical data for force constants of a crystal as functions of lattice parameters at different particle sizes are reported. A method that allows us to disclose the presence of many-body interactions in a system by the behavior of force constants at some interval of the values of lattice parameters is proposed. The application of this method to the system under consideration demonstrated that electrostatic interparticle interactions in the system cannot be reduced to simply a pair interaction of any kind; the introduction of many-body potentials is required for the adequate representation of the elastic properties of a crystal.