Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol. 63, Nos. 1/2, 1991. p. 141-165.
Using an integral-equation approach based upon an approximation for the tail function, the equilibrium properties of a system of hard spheres are studied with special concern for the behavior in the region of close packing. The closure adopted is such that full, internal consistency is ensured in the thermodynamics of the model with respect to both the two zero-separation theorems as well as to the more standard virial and fluctuation routes to the equation of state. The scheme also makes use of the continuity properties of the tail function and of the cavity distribution function at contact. These properties are explictly tested in the low-density limit up to the fourth derivative...