Monte Carlo simulations of nitrogen using an ab initio potential

A new ab initio pair potential for nitrogen has been calculated at CCSD(T) level with aug-cc-pVDZ and -pVTZ correlation consistent basis sets. The results were extrapolated to approximate the basis set limit. This potential was used within Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo (GEMC) simulations to obtain the densities of the coexisting phases, the vapour pressure and the enthalpy of vaporization from 70 K to close to the critical point. The influence of several 3-body interactions (an approximate anisotropic triple dipole potential derived by Stogryn, the isotropic triple dipole potential by Axilrod and Teller (AT), and a 3-body induction potential on the above mentioned properties was investigated. Satisfactory agreement with experimental data was observed. To determine whether the remaining deviations between experimental and computed data are due to inaccuracies in the 2-body or 3-body potential, the 2-body potential was rescaled to reproduce experimental 2nd virial coefficients accurately, and some of the calculations were repeated with the new potential. It turns out that an accurate 2-body potential only in connection with the AT potential yields accurate results for the thermodynamic properties of phase equilibria.