A path-integral Monte Carlo study of a small cluster: The Ar trimer.

The Ar(3) system has been studied between T=0 K and T=40 K by means of a path-integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) method. The behavior of the average energy in terms of the temperature has been explained by comparison with results obtained with the thermal averaged rovibrational spectra estimated via: (i) a quantum mechanical method based on distributed Gaussian functions for the interparticle distances and (ii) an analytical model which precisely accounts for the participation of the dissociative continua Ar(2)+Ar and Ar+Ar+Ar. Beyond T approximately 20 K, the system explores floppier configurations than the rigid equilateral geometry, as linear and Ar-Ar(2)-like arrangements, and fragmentates around T approximately 40 K. A careful investigation of the specific heat in terms of a confining radius in the PIMC calculation seems to discard a proper phase transition as in larger clusters, in apparent contradiction with previous reports of precise values for a liquid-gas transition. The onset of this noticeable change in the dynamics of the trimer occurs, however, at a remarkably low value of the temperature in comparison with Ar(n) systems formed with more Ar atoms. Quantum mechanical effects are found of relevance at T

A theoretical investigation on the spectrum of the Ar trimer for high rotational excitations.

A detailed study of the rovibrational spectrum of the Ar trimer is performed by means of an exact hyperspherical coordinate (HC) method and a variational approach based on distributed Gaussian functions (DGFs) to describe the interparticle distances. The good agreement observed between the energy levels obtained with both procedures for high values of the total angular momentum (J=15 and 20) reveals the quality of the DGF method to describe the rotation of the title system. Rotational constants for the lowest bound states, obtained as averages for each vibrational state, have been obtained and compared to previous results. A detailed analysis of density probability functions obtained by means of the HC approach for rovibrational states at J=0 and 20 shows close similitudes thus supporting the vibration-rotation separation adopted within the DGF scheme for the Ar(3) system.