A technique based on the path-integral effective-potential theory to calculate the thermodynamic properties of a linear chain of atoms is extended to include all-neighbor interactions. The configuration averages are performed using the classical Monte Carlo technique. The theory is applied to a system interacting with a Mie–Lennard-Jones potential to make contact with earlier work. Results for the internal energy and specific heat are presented and compared with those using only nearest-neighbor interactions and the quantum Monte Carlo method. This is a useful step toward the application of the effective-potential theory to realistic systems with long-range interactions.

• Received 27 March 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.45.7122