8th Liquid Matter Conference September 6-10, 2011 Wien, Austria ...

P5.66Wed 711:10-14:00On the relation between virial coefficients an theclose-packing of hard disks and hard spheresMiguel ángel González Maestre, 1 Andrés Santos Reyes, 1 Miguel Robles, 2 andMariano López de Haro 21 Universidad de Extremadura, Campus Universitario Avd Elvas, 06071 Badajoz (Spain)06071, Badajoz, Spain2 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelos, MexicoThe question of whether the known virial coefficients are enough to determine the packing fractionη ∞ at which the fluid equation of state of a hard-sphere fluid diverges is addressed. It is foundthat the information derived from the direct Padé approximants to the compressibility factor constructedwith the virial coefficients is inconclusive. An alternative approach is proposed whichmakes use of the same virial coefficients and of the equation of state in a form where the packingfraction is explicitly given as a function of the pressure. The results of this approach both for harddiskand hard-sphere fluids, which can straightforwardly accommodate higher virial coefficientswhen available, lends support to the conjecture that η ∞ is equal to the maximum packing fractioncorresponding to an ordered crystalline structure.66