Equation of state of solid, liquid and gaseous tantalum from first principles

We present ab initio calculations of the phase diagram and the equation of state of Ta in a wide range of volumes and temperatures, with volumes from 9 to 180 Å/atom, temperature as high as 20 000 K, and pressure up to 7 Mbars. The calculations are based on first principles, in combination with techniques of molecular dynamics, thermodynamic integration, and statistical modeling. Multiple phases are studied, including the solid, fluid, and gas single phases, as well as two-phase coexistences. We calculate the critical point by direct molecular dynamics sampling, and extend the equation of state to very low density through virial series fitting. The accuracy of the equation of state is assessed by comparing both the predicted melting curve and the critical point with previous experimental and theoretical investigations. & 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).