High-density properties of hard spheres within a modified Percus-Yevick theory: The role of thermodynamic consistency

Using an integral-equation approach based upon an approximation for the tail function, the equilibrium properties of a system of hard spheres are studied with special concern for the behavior in the region of close packing. The closure adopted is such that full, internal consistency is ensured in the thermodynamics of the model with respect to both the two zero-separation theorems as well as to the more standard virial and fluctuation routes to the equation of state. The scheme also makes use of the continuity properties of the tail function and of the cavity distribution function at contact. These properties are explictly tested in the low-density limit up to the fourth derivative. The theory generates an equilibrium branch bounded on the high-density side by a point corresponding to a packing fraction0.78, a value which closely matches Rogers' least upper bound for the densest packing of spheres. The pair structure of the fluid in the state of random close packing is also compared to the type of local order predicted by the theory at similar densities.