LONG-RANGE CORRECTIONS TO THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF INHOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS WITH PLANAR INTERFACES

Expressions for the long range corrections to configurational energy, normal pressure, surface tension, and chemical potential of an inhomog eneous system with two planar interfaces are developed. Applying the E uler forward difference scheme to correlate the density at any height to that of a central spatial element separates the corrections into tw o parts: one relates directly to the central local density, and anothe r is due to the density differences between the central local value an d those around the central spatial element. An analytical expression i s obtained for the first part when the Lennard-Jones potential functio n is adopted in the evaluation. Variations of these properties along t he normal direction are illustrated in terms of the equilibrium densit y profiles obtained from Monte Carlo simulations performed at T=0.90 and T=1.15. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.