A variational calculation is performed of the surface energy of the jellium model of a metal surface. Variational parameters are used which only affect the surface properties of the wave functions. The kinetic, electrostatic, and exchange energies are evaluated using these wave functions. The minimization procedure yields results very similar to those obtained by Lang and Kohn, and quite different from the infinite-barrier model.

• Received 16 June 1975

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.12.5585