Why do liquids freeze? An atomistic perspective and a new method to compute melting curves.

We have discovered from computer simulations a distinctive feature in the motions of atoms in the liquid state of materials that heralds the freezing transition. This feature of incipient freezing can be readily measured in atomistic simulations to locate the melt points. We have successfully demonstrated the ability of the method to predict the high pressure melting curve of materials. Unlike all the existing theoretical methods, the new method does not require any information on the

solid phase into which the material freezes. Results will be presented for several materials, including lithium, sodium, aluminum, gold and xenon.