HARD-SPHERE QUASI-CRYSTALS

We examine the possibility of quasicrystalline metastable states for o ne-and two-component hard-sphere solids, systems whose excess free ene rgies are entirely entropic. The investigations are carried out using the self-consistent modified weighted density approximation of density functional theory as applied to inhomogeneous systems. By a method en tirely formulated in reciprocal space, we find that the best quasicrys talline phases have significantly higher free energies than the crysta lline or liquid states. These results indicate that quasicrystals prob ably cannot be stabilized entirely by dynamic entropy.