Structure of a liquid–vapor interface in the presence of a hard wall in the transition region

The structure of a liquid–vapor interface, in the presence of a hard wall in the transition region, is studied using Monte Carlo simulation. Both longitudinal and transverse correlations are compared to those observed in a free interface. The density profile shows a transition from an oscillatory profile to a smooth monotonic one when the position of the hard wall is varied. It is shown that these results are consistent with a heuristic capillary wave theory of the interface.