Feynman-Hibbs quantum effective potentials for Monte Carlo simulations of liquid neon

Abstract

The quantum characteristics of liquid neon at four state points have been studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations involving two effective pair potentials arising from the path-integral formalism, namely the quadratic (QFH) and the Gaussian (GFH) Feynman-Hibbs (FH) potentials. Results include mechanical, thermal and structural properties for the FH and the classical Lennard-Jones models. The procedure to compute thermal quantities has been based on Widom's insertion technique. The data reported in the paper are also compared, where possible, with previous path-integral simulation results and with available experimental information.