Nearest-available-neighbour approximation

The accuracy of the Kirkwood superposition approximation was questioned recently [15] in terms of the new reaction model called NAN (nearest available neighbour reaction) [16-20], Unlike previous reaction models, in the NAN scheme AB pairs recombine in a strict order of separation the closest pair in an initially random distribution is removed first, then the next one and so on. Thus for NAN, the recombination distance R, e.g., the separation of the closest pair of dissimilar particles at any stage of the recombination, replaces real time as the ordering variable time does not enter at all the NAN scheme. R is conveniently measured in units of the initial pair separation. At large R in J-dimensions, NAN scaling arguments [16] lead rapidly to the result that the pair population decreases asymptotically as cR d/2 (c... 

Fig. 3.2 Illustration of the free volume of a hard sphere (hatched area) in the cage of its nearest neighbours in the approximation of the inscribed sphere (dashed line radius r — 2R). The hatched area identifies the available volume for the center of the central sphere...

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