A general theory of rods

Abstract

The pair correlation function, g(z$_1$, z$_2$, r$_{12}$), of a system of hard spheres near a hard wall is approximated by a simple function that interpolates in a reasonable manner between the Percus shielding approximation for the case when the line of centres of the spheres is normal to the surface of the wall and the bulk pair correlation function, with a semi-empirical modification, for the case when the spheres are equidistant from the wall. This modification is chosen so that the surface tension, calculated from the pair correlation function, is given correctly. The resulting pair correlation function is in good agreement with computer simulations and satisfies a sum rule for the slope of the density profile fairly well.