HARD-SPHERE AND HARD-DISK FREEZING FROM THE DIFFERENTIAL FORMULATION OF THE GENERALIZED EFFECTIVE LIQUID APPROXIMATION

We apply the differential formulation of the generalized effective liq uid approximation to the study of hard-sphere and hard-disk freezing. We show that the thermodynamic properties of the solid phase are rathe r insensitive to the compressibility factor of the fluid phase used to map the solid onto the effective liquid. The solid-fluid coexistence data instead are quite dependent on the equation of state describing t he fluid phase. Very accurate results, as compared with the simulation data, are obtained for both the freezing of hard spheres and hard dis ks.