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    Determination of the melting temperature of hexagonal ice using Lee-Yang phase transition theory

    Ling Liu, Yihua Dong, Qi-Jun Ye*, and Xin-Zheng Li†

    • Interdisciplinary Institute of Light-Element Quantum Materials, Research Center for Light-Element Advanced Materials, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China; State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructure and Mesoscopic Physics, Frontier Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics and School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China; and Peking University Yangtze Delta Institute of Optoelectronics, Nantong, Jiangsu 226010, People's Republic of China

    • *Contact author: qjye@pku.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: xzli@pku.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 112, 104102 – Published 15 September, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/fr9q-df52

    Abstract

    Lee-Yang phase transition theory is a milestone in statistical physics. Its applications in realistic systems, however, had been substantially hindered by availability of practical schemes to calculate the Lee-Yang zeros. In this manuscript, we extend the scheme we have designed earlier [Phys. Rev. E 109, 024118 (2024)] and report simulation results for the melting temperature (T) of ice Ih under ambient pressure (p). The enhanced sampling technique is shown to be crucial for accessing Lee-Yang zeros accurately. The real and imaginary parts of the Lee-Yang edges exhibit linear finite-size scaling, yielding an extrapolated melting T of 274.70 K for the mW water potential in the thermodynamic limit. This result agrees quantitatively with prior coexistence simulations, while offering a significant reduction in computational cost: the phase boundary can be determined from a single simulation even when performed distant from actual transition conditions, unlike conventional methods that require multiple simulations scanning T or p. With these, we demonstrate the applicability of Lee-Yang phase transition theory in realistic molecular systems and provide a feasible scheme for high-throughput calculations in determining the phase transition temperature.

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