A reliable single parameter interatomic potential for argon

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Abstract
A simple semiempirical approximation previously proposed for the isotropic intermolecular forces between two closed shell systems is tested in detail for the argon-argon interaction. The potential is based on the knowledge of the first-order coulomb interaction energy, a suitably damped three term long range asymptotic expansion of the second order coulomb energy, and a semiempirical representation of the exchange interaction energy which contains one adjustable parameter. The single adjustable parameter can be reliably determined by fitting the second virial coefficient for argon in the 130–773 K temperature range with the long range interaction coefficients being constrained within the theoretical bounds specified by Tang, Norbeck and Certain. The reliability of the potential is compared with that of several literature potentials by comparing the theoretical predictions obtained from the potentials with experimental results for the second virial coefficient, viscosity, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusion ratios for dilute argon gas, and with spectroscopic data for the dimer, and with SCF calculations of the Ar-Ar potential at small interatomic separations. Our best potential predicts these properties with a precision as good as or better than other recent potentials which generally contain more adjustable parameters and/or involve more input data. The results confirm earlier work that suggested that the scheme tested is capable of yielding reliable isotropic potentials for the interaction of closed shell systems for 0·3 ≲ R/Rm ⩽ ∞ where Rm is the intermolecular distance at the van der Waals minimum. The scheme appears to offer a method for obtaining reliable potentials while avoiding problems associated with optimizing many parameters with respect to fitting experimental constraints.