Many-body effects in fcc metals: A Lennard-Jones embedded-atom potential

A simple analytic model that extends the Lennard-Jones potential into the many-body regime is proposed. The two parameter model draws on the embedded-atom method formalism. The model is used to calculate properties of an fee material, e.g., elastic constants, Bain transformation, and defect properties, as a function of many-body parameters. It is shown that the ground state structure of the model includes all of the common phases. The melting point of an fee material is shown to decrease significantly as the many-body interactions are increased.