Icosahedral Quasiperiodic Ground States?

Abstract

An icosahedral quasiperiodic zero-temperature phase with lower enthalpy than in Bravais and close-packed crystal structures has been found for a system of particles interacting via a square-well potential. This remains true after small changes in the potential, pressure, and even after small changes within a class of icosahedral structures. Above a certain critical pressure, the icosahedral phase transforms into the bcc Bravais crystal structure.