Defect Melting Models for Cubic Lattices and Universal Laws for Melting Temperatures

Abstract

We set up simple harmonic lattice models for elastic fluctuations in bcc and fcc lattices and the excitation of dislocations and disclinations. From these we derive, in a lowest approximation, universal formulas which predict melting temperatures in good agreement with the experiments. This new theory is more precise than Lindemann's rule by factor 2, and more predictive, since the size of the Lindemann number has to be fixed by experiments. In addition, our theory allows for systematic improvements.