THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF RIGID SEGMENTS IN A ONE-DIMENSIONAL EQUILIBRIUM FLUID

The possibility of obtaining information on the size distribution of a rigid segment 1D fluid from its experimentally determined radial distribution function, subject to random noise, was investigated. It was found that a direct determination of the size distributions is impossible since the solutions are unstable even for very low levels of noise. Using the moments of the radial distribution function, however, it is possible to obtain reliable data on the density and packing fraction of the fluid and on the average size and dispersion of the size distribution, and good information on its asymmetry parameter and kurtosis, which may allow a distinction between different shapes. © 1990 American Institute of Physics.