Ab initio Monte Carlo investigations of small lithium clusters

Structural and thermal properties of small lithium clusters are studied using ab initio-based Monte Carlo simulations. The ab initio scheme uses a Hartree-Fock/density functional treatment of the electronic structure combined with a jump-walking Monte Carlo sampling of nuclear configurations. Structural forms of Li(8) and Li(9)(+) clusters are obtained and their thermal properties analyzed in terms of probability distributions of the cluster potential energy, average potential energy and configurational heat capacity all considered as a function of the cluster temperature. Details of the gradual evolution with temperature of the structural forms sampled are examined. Temperatures characterizing the onset of structural changes and isomer coexistence are identified for both clusters.