Connecting local structure to interface formation: a molecular scale van der Waals theory of nonuniform liquids

This article reviews a new and general theory of nonuniform fluids that naturally incorporates molecular scale information into the classical van der Waals theory of slowly varying interfaces. The method optimally combines two standard approximations, molecular (mean) field theory to describe interface formation and linear response (or Gaussian fluctuation) theory to describe local structure. Accurate results have been found in many different applications in nonuniform simple fluids and these ideas may have important implications for the theory of hydrophobic interactions in water.