Quantum Fluctuations Affect the Critical Properties of Noble Gases

Interacting argon atoms are simulated with a recently developed quantum Langevin transport treatment that takes approximate account of the quantum fluctuations inherent in microscopic many-body descriptions based on wave packets. The mass distribution of the atomic clusters is affected significantly near the critical temperature and thus it may be important to take account of quantum fluctuations in molecular-dynamics simulations of cluster formation processes.