Structure of interfaces from uniformity of the chemical potential

It is shown that a generalized chemical potential suggested by the potential-distribution theory is uniform even in a nonuniform fluid. Leng, Rowlinson, and Thompson had already observed its uniformity through the liquid-vapor interface in the penetrable-sphere model, in mean-field approximation. Following those authors, we exploit the uniformity of that generalized chemical potential to obtain unified and transparent derivations of the results of Ono and Kondo and of van der Waals on the liquid-vapor interfaces in the lattice-gas model and in the model of attracting hard spheres, respectively, both in mean-field approximation.Work supported by the National Science Foundation and the Cornell University Materials Science Center.