Tracer diffusion in ternary alloys

An intuitive extension of the theory for diffusion in dynamic binary alloys given in the preceding paper is presented. This theory has also received an independent derivation, based on more formal procedures, by Holdsworth and Elliott. We present Monte Carlo estimates for diffusion correlation factors, fsup(A), fsup(B), and fsup(C) and compare them with the theory. The agreement between the theoretical results and the Monte Carlo estimates for the correlation factors of the slow particles, i.e., fsup(C) and fsup(B), is found to be generally good. In contrast, for the correlation factor, fsup(A), referring to the diffusion coefficient of fast particles in the system, the theoretical results are found to be systematically lower by a small but resolvable margin. It is suggested that this is occasioned by the neglect of spatial constraints on the scattering of coupled tracer-background particle field pairs. (author)