Ising universality class for the liquid-liquid critical point of a one component fluid: a finite-size scaling test

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 109; no. 17; p. 177801
• Main Authors: Gallo, Paola, Sciortino, Francesco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 24.10.2012
• ISSN: 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.109.177801

We present a finite-size scaling study of the liquid-liquid critical point in the Jagla model, a prototype model for liquids that present the same thermodynamic anomalies which characterize liquid water. Performing successive umbrella sampling grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we evaluate an accurate density of states for different system sizes and determine the size-dependent critical parameters. Extrapolation to infinite size provides estimates of the bulk critical values for this model. The finite-size study allows us to establish that critical fluctuations are consistent with the Ising universality class and to provide definitive evidence for the existence of a liquid-liquid critical point in the Jagla potential. This finding supports the possibility of the existence of a genuine liquid-liquid critical point in anomalous one-component liquids like water.