"Ni caos ni cristales perfectos: un viaje por los estados intermedios de la materia utilizando la simulación molecular”

Resumen

Aggregation states of the matter have been identified very long time ago. However, the discovery of the relationships between macroscopic properties and microscopic structure is much more recent. From a time point of view, these relations were established first for gases in the 17th century, then for solids in the 18th and finally for liquids in the second half of the 20th century. Furthermore, we have not yet got an ideal model giving account of real liquids in a number of practical circumstances even as a first approach. Thus, the computer molecular simulation became as absolutely necessary for the study of liquid state. The development of the molecular simulation has shed light on the understanding of intermediate aggregation states (mesophases) between solid and gas states as well as important complex systems useful in the life sciences. Among all these systems we consider particularly in this work: classical liquids, liquid crystals, colloids and proteins.