An approach to the averaged two-particle distribution function of a crystalline phase is presented. It includes an indirect check of the merit of the Gaussian approximation for the local density and a way to infer values of the thermodynamic variables from simulation data. The equation of state and the compressibility of the hard-sphere fcc crystal is computed from the Tarazona free energy density functional [Phys. Rev. A 31, 2672 (1985)]. They are in excellent agreement with simulation results over the physical range of densities up to almost close packing. We also include the comparison with the results obtained by two other functional approaches, which are also excellent. © 1996 The American Physical Society.

• Received 20 December 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.53.5698