Residual Entropy of Ordinary Ice from Multicanonical Simulations

Abstract

We introduce two simple models with nearest neighbor interactions on 3D hexagonal lattices. Each model allows one to calculate the residual entropy of ice I (ordinary ice) by means of multicanonical simulations. This gives the correction to the residual entropy derived by Linus Pauling in 1935. Our estimate is found to be within less than 0.1% of an analytical approximation by Nagle, which is an improvement of Pauling's result. We pose it as a challenge to experimentalists to improve on the accuracy of a 1936 measurement by Giauque and Stout by about one order of magnitude, which would allow one to identify corrections to Pauling's value unambiguously. It is straightforward to transfer our methods to other crystal systems.