A systematic approach for the construction of a density functional for van
der Waals interactions that also accounts for saturation effects is described,
i.e. one that is applicable at short distances. A very efficient method to
calculate the resulting expressions in the case of flat surfaces, a method
leading to an order reduction in computational complexity, is presented.
Results for the interaction of two parallel jellium slabs are shown to agree
with those of a recent RPA calculation (J.F. Dobson and J. Wang, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 82, 2123 1999). The method is easy to use; its input consists of the
electron density of the system, and we show that it can be successfully
approximated by the electron densities of the interacting fragments. Results
for the surface correlation energy of jellium compare very well with those of
other studies. The correlation-interaction energy between two parallel jellia
is calculated for all separations d, and substantial saturation effects are
predicted.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure