Distribution function theory for inhomogeneous fluids

Abstract
A theory for inhomogeneous fluids is presented. It is derived by an approach that is inspired by the cluster variation method for lattice systems. A systematic expansion of the free-energy functional is generated, which is then truncated and minimized to obtain integral equations for the density profile and the pair distribution function. The theory can be simplified by an additional approximation that serves to decouple the integral equations. Numerical results from this simplified theory show promising agreement with computer simulations.