title: Thermodynamics of attractive hard rods: a test of mean field density functional theory.
abstract: Mean field density functional theory (MFDFT) has been employed to calculate the free energy of a pair of attractive hard rods on a ring. The results for homogeneous and optimal inhomogeneous density profiles have been compared with the exact free energy as a test of the approach. We discuss the problems in applying MFDFT to small systems and suggest modifications which allow a reasonably accurate treatment of this particular, rather extreme, case.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khakshouri
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Ford