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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 86 » Issue 7
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 1191–1194 (2001)

Negative Heat Capacity for a Cluster of 147 Sodium Atoms

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Martin Schmidt, Robert Kusche, Thomas Hippler, Jörn Donges, Werner Kronmüller, Bernd von Issendorff, and Hellmut Haberland
Fakultät für Physik, Universität Freiburg, H.Herderstrasse 3, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany

Received 24 July 2000; published in the issue dated 12 February 2001

There exists a surprising theoretical prediction for a small system: its microcanonical heat capacity can become negative. An increase of energy can—under certain conditions—lead to a lower temperature. Here we present experimental evidence that a cluster containing exactly 147 sodium atoms does indeed have a negative microcanonical heat capacity near its solid to liquid transition.

© 2001 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.1191
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.1191
PACS:
36.40.Ei
 
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