Perturbation theory of liquid-metal surfaces: The importance of the self-energy

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Abstract
A model for the surface tension and density profile of simple liquid metals is presented. It is based on second-order perturbation theory in the electron-ion pseudopotential about the inhomogeneous electron gas at a jellium surface. The pair correlations in the ion fluid are computed using hard-sphere perturbation theory. The model yields good agreement with the experimental surface tensions of the alkali metals. For the polyvalent metals it is shown that it is essential to include the position-dependent self-energy of the ions, a quantity that is fortuitously small in the monovalent systems. To obtain such self-energies, very accurate values of the response function of the inhomogeneous electron gas are required.