Cavitation in liquid Pb and Li under negative pressures

Dynamics and kinetics of the initial stages of the cavitation process in metastable liquid Pb and Li are studied via molecular dynamics method (MD). In the model used the interatomic interaction is described by EAM (Embedded Atom Method) many-particle potentials [1]. States under consideration correspond to large negative pressures and temperatures essentially lower than the critical temperature (T 0.5TC ). Statistical averaging of the metastable liquid lifetime over ensembles of MD trajectories is used to calculate the cavitation rate [2]. Results are compared with the classical nucleation theory