Electronic fluctuation and cohesion in metals

Abstract

This Letter is concerned with effective interatomic potentials in metals specifically arising from electronic quantum fluctuations. The cohesive energy is shown to contain large terms arising from generalized dispersion forces. Further, the density-density response function of the homogeneous electron gas is shown to contain a part decaying monotonically as 1/${\mathrm{r}}^6$ in real space; this has consequences in the construction of generalized functional theories of interatomic potentials.