Ground-state structural and dynamical properties of solidC60from an empirical intermolecular potential

A simple intermolecular potential is constructed to describe solid ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$. The structural and elastic properties are calculated and show good agreement with available experimental results. Phonon-dispersion curves and density of states are predicted. The librational modes are found to be between 10 and 20 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{-}1}$ and the highest vibrational mode is at 45 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{-}1}$. The phonon density of states is used to calculate the specific heat, which agrees reasonably well with experiment.