Melting Points

Abstract

The melting point of a solid characterizes, in a fundamental way, transition between solid and fluid states. It is usually defined in terms of the average kinetic energy of a large ensemble of atoms or molecules (Cotterill, Kristensen and Jensen (1974), Hirschfelder, Curtiss and Bird (1965)). In this chapter, we will develop an approach for determining the melting point of a homogeneous atomic or molecular solid via the four-body problem. As a consequence of our approach, a new formula in terms of Planck’s constant, rather than Boltzmann’s constant, results.