Density functional theory of adhesive hard sphere fluids

We present a simple density functional approach to study the structure of homogeneous as well as inhomogeneous adhesive hard sphere fluid. Radial distribution function g(r) of the homogeneous adhesive hard sphere fluid is calculated by making use of the well known Percus identity which relates the density distribution of an inhomogeneous fluid to the g(r) of the corresponding homogeneous fluid when the external potential responsible for the inhomogeneity is the interparticle potential itself. We have also studied the local density distribution of the same fluid confined in a planar slit consisting of hard walls. The input required for the calculation is the two-particle direct correlation function of the bulk fluid, which is taken from the analytical results corresponding to the Percus Yevick approximation. Both perturbative and nonperturbative weighted density approaches are employed and the calculated radial distributions as well as the density profiles are shown on an average to compare quite well with results from computer simulation. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.