Measurements are reported of the pressure dependence of the real part of the dielectric constant of subcritical and supercritical Hg vapor. Abrupt upward deviations from normal Clausius-Mosotti behavior, which are exhibited in an extremely narrow pressure range in the subcritical vapor phase, indicate that the vapor-liquid phase transition near the critical region is preceded by a heretofore undetected "plasma transition." It is concluded that the dielectric anomaly is caused by the formation of dense, charged thermodynamically stable droplets.
Measurements of the real part of the infrared dielectric constant of sub-and supercritical mercury vapour indicate that the interaction of the thermally generated charged particles with neutral atoms stabilize regions of higher than average density in the compressed high temperature vapour. A model calculation supports the hypothesis that under certain conditions of the vapour charges tend to stabilize dense liquid droplets which approach metallic conditions while the macroscopic system is still in the nonmetallic region.
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