The interaction of rare gases with metals

Interaction potentials of rare gases with metal surfaces are calculated and compared with experimental data. A local dielectric function formalism and the density functional method are used in the calculation of the attractive and repulsive energies respectively. Depth and curvature variations of the potentials suggest a classification into light (He, Ne) and heavy rare gases. Sensitivity of the results to the model description of the metal surface electronic density is examined. (author)