Extended Modified Liquid Drop Model and Dynamic Nucleation Theory

In the classical theory and its modifications an arbitrary cluster is characterized by one parameter - the number of molecules in it. In a series of papers [1–3] Reiss and co-workers discussed an alternative form of cluster characterization. It was suggested that a cluster should be characterized not only by the particle number, \(i\), but also by its volume \(v\). As a result dynamics of such an \(i,v\) -cluster becomes two-dimensional (as opposed to the CNT, where it is one-dimensional) resembling nucleation in binary systems. Using these arguments Weakliem and Reiss [4] put forward the modified liquid drop model and performed extensive Monte Carlo simulations to calculate free energy of the \(i,v\)-clusters. Based on these ideas Reguera et al. [5] put forward the "extended modified liquid drop" model (EMLD), taking into account the effect of fluctuations which are important for the formation of tiny droplets in a small \(NVT\)-system. More recently Reguera and Reiss [6] combined EMLD with the Dynamic Nucleation Theory (DNT) of Shenter et al. [7, 8]. The new model, called “extended modified liquid drop model-dynamical nucleation theory” (EMLD-DNT), is discussed in the next Sections.