Computer simulation as a tool to analyze neutron scattering experiments: Water at supercritical temperatures

Abstract
We present results of molecular dynamics simulations of water at supercritical conditions that correspond exactly to those of an experimental study performed by Postorino et al. (P. Postorino, R.H. Tromp, M.‐A. Ricci, A.K. Soper, and G.W. Neilson, Nature 366, 668 (1993)). The discrepancy between simulation and experiment raised by these authors is partly removed simply by considering corresponding thermodynamic states. The careful analysis of the contributions of neutron scattering experiments on the atomic radial distribution functions of water gives strong evidence that the neutron‐scattering experiment on non‐deuterated water plays a key role in determining the essential features of gOH(r) and gOO(r) and is a potential source of artifacts.