Metallic slabs: perturbative treatments based on jellium

Abstract We examine first-order perturbative results based on jellium for the surface energy of slabs of simple metals, using various local pseudo-potentials (Ashcroft, Heine–Abarenkov and evanescent core). The difference between the pseudo-potential and the jellium potential is averaged along the plane parallel to the surface. We compare these perturbative results with those of the stabilized-jellium model (a modification of the regular jellium model in which the perturbation appears in the energy functional right from the outset) and with the output of other perturbative and non-perturbative calculations.