Equilibrium properties of fluids in the semiclassical limit. II. Application to hard-sphere fluids

Abstract

We present computationally convenient theoretical methods for calculating the structural and thermodynamic properties of a fluid in the semiclassical limit where quantum effects are small. The concept of the effective two-body Mayer functions has been used to develop two approximations, one for the pair correlation function and the other for the Helmholtz free energy. The theory has been applied to the calculation of quantum effects on the radial distribution function and Helmholtz free energy of a fluid of hard spheres. It is shown that because of quantum effects a significant change in the structure of a hard-sphere fluid takes place in the neighborhood of the point of contact.