Variational fluid theory with inverse 12th power reference potential

Abstract

An inverse 12th power fluid variational theory has been constructed. For this we have used an accurate fit to the reference fluid free energy and have tabulated accurate reference fluid radial distribution functions computed from a new integral equation. The theory has been compared with Monte Carlo thermodynamic data for fluids with Lennard-Jones, exponential-six, and n=9, 6, and 4 inverse power potentials. Agreement is good, especially near the freezing point. The theory is also in close agreement with Ross’ ‘‘soft-sphere’’ theory.