A pair potential for argon determined from thermodynamic properties of the dense gas

Abstract

A data inversion technique is proposed for the determination of pair interatomic potentials from the Helmholtz free energies of a dense gas, and a potential for argon is determined. The reliability of the potential is tested by comparing the theoretical and the experimental results for the second and third virial coefficients, viscosity coefficients, and the thermodynamic properties of the liquid. With the exception of the viscosities, our potential predicts these properties as well or better than that of Barker, Fisher and Watts.