LIQUID STRUCTURE OF THE ALKALINE-EARTH METALS

We present ab initio calculations of the liquid structure of the alkal ine-earth metals. Our approach is based on the neutral-pseudoatom meth od to obtain the interionic pair potential and on the variational-modi fied-hypernetted-chain integral-equation theory of liquids [Y. Rosenfe ld, J. Stat. Phys. 42, 437 (1986)] to obtain the liquid structure. Thi s combination results in a whole theory that is free of adjustable par ameters. We find that our pair potentials follow the expected trends f or these metals. The predicted static structure factors axe in good ag reement with the available experimental data [Y. Waseda, The Structure of Non-Crystalline Materials (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1980)].