Statistical mechanics of a fluid drop

Abstract

We obtain a statistical mechanical expression for the surface tension of a drop, involving the direct correlation function, by extending the work on the planar liquid-vapour interface, both from the fluctuation theory approach of Triezenburg & Zwanzig (Phys. Rev. Lett. 28, 1183 (1972)) and from the method of Wertheim (J. chem. Phys. 65, 2377 (1976)) based on a spectral analysis of the density-density correlation function. The result does not apply beyond the leading-order difference from the planar limit.