Stability of the high-density hard-sphere solid in the density-functional theories of freezing

Abstract

It is shown that the recently proposed density-functional theory of freezing predicts a thermodynamically stable hard-sphere solid up to the density of crystal close packing. The behaviour is contrasted with the unphysical remelting of the hard-sphere solid just after freezing found in an alternative theory. Some possible reasons for this discrepancy are pointed out.