Structure and thermodynamics of the expanded liquid mercury by Monte Carlo simulation: a first attempt

The properties of expanded liquid mercury are investigated by using an empirical effective pair potential. Its parameters are determined with the aid of Monte Carlo simulation along the liquid branch of the liquid–vapor coexistence curve. The complexity of the electronic structure of dense metal mercury supposes a state dependence of the interatomic interactions, while no more state dependence is found in the metal–nonmetal transition region. It is shown that the use of this effective potential leads to an accurate description of the structural and thermodynamic properties of the expanded liquid mercury.