Equilibrium of a liquid in a spherical shell caused by gravity, surface tension, and van der Waals forces

Abstract
A rigorous proof is presented which shows that the classical Young–Laplace equation cannot predict a continuous liquid layer inside a spherical‐shell container. An augmented Young–Laplace equation is in turn derived to describe the equilibrium profiles of a continuous liquid hydrogen layer inside a spherical‐shell inertial fusion target. The augmentation is achieved by adding to the total free energy a term originating from the attractive intermolecular forces of the van der Waals type.

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