We investigate the ability of the reference hypernetted-chain integral equation to describe the phase diagram of square-well fluids with four different ranges of attraction. Comparison of our results with simulation data shows that the theory is able to reproduce with fairly good accuracy a significant part of the coexistence curve, provided an extrapolation procedure is used to circumvent the well-known pathologies of the pseudo-spinodal line, which are more severe at reduced width of the attractive well. The method provides a useful approach for a quick assessment of the location of the liquid-vapor coexistence curve in this kind of fluid and serves as a check for the more complex problem of anisotropic "patchy" square-well molecules.
@article{arxiv.0903.2121,
title = {Liquid-vapor coexistence in square-well fluids: an RHNC study},
author = {Achille Giacometti and Giorgio Pastore and Fred Lado},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0903.2121},
year = {2015}
}