Density-Dependent Potentials and the Hard-Sphere Model for Liquid Metals

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Abstract
It has been found that various properties of liquid metals are interpretable in terms of a hard-sphere model. Since electronic screening of pair interactions in metals leads to density-dependent hard-sphere diameters, we have examined the effect that this has on the thermodynamic equations. The virial equation is shown to contain extra contributions to the pressure and compressibility which are quite relevant for metallic systems. The behavior of alkali metals is discussed.