Speed of sound in dense simple liquids

Abstract: The speed of sound of simple dense fluids is shown to exhibit a pronounced freezing temperature scaling of the form $c_{\rm s}/v_{\rm T}\simeq \sqrt{\gamma} +\alpha (T_{\rm fr}/T)^{\beta}$, where $c_s$ is the speed of sound, $v_{\rm T}$ is the characteristic thermal velocity, $\gamma$ is the ideal gas heat capacity ratio, $T$ is the temperature, $T_{\rm fr}$ is the freezing temperature, and $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are dimensionless parameters. For the Lennard-Jones fluid we get $\gamma=5/3$, $\alpha\simeq 7$ with a weak temperature dependence, and $\beta = 1/3$. Similar scaling works in several real liquids, such as argon, krypton, xenon, nitrogen, and methane. In this case, $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are substance-dependent fitting parameters. A comparison between the prediction of this freezing temperature scaling and a recent experimental measurement of the speed of sound in methane under conditions of planetary interiors is presented and discussed. The results provide a simple practical tool to estimate the speed of sound in regimes where no experimental data are yet available.