Abstract
It is proposed that the unusual low-temperature behavior of liquid water may be interpreted using a simple model based upon connectivity concepts from correlated-site percolation theory. Emphasis is placed on examining the physical implications of the continuous hydrogen-bonded network (or “gel”) formed by water molecules. Each water molecule A is assigned to one of five species based on the number of “intact bonds” (the number of other molecules whose interaction energy with A is stronger than some cutoff VHB). It is demonstrated that in the present model the spatial positions of the various species are not randomly distributed but rather are correlated. In particular it is seen that the infinite hydrogen-bonded network contains tiny “patches” of four-bonded molecules. Predictions based upon the putative presence of these tiny patches for KT, CP, and αP are developed as examples.