Study of the Properties of an Excess Electron in Liquid Helium. II. A Refined Description of Configuration Changes in the Liquid

In this paper we present a study of the structural changes in liquid helium in the vicinity of an excess electron. We have used the formal similarity between the pair distribution function of an N-boson system, with the wavefunction expressed as the product of pair wavefunctions, and the pair distribution function of a classical fluid. The present model leads to an interfacial surface energy term which is in good agreement with the observed surface tension of liquid helium at 0°K. An important contribution to the bubble energy arises from the volume kinetic energy arising from the excess kinetic energy of the fluid atoms removed from the boundary layer. The bubble radius of 12.4 Å calculated herein is found to be in excellent agreement with the available experimental data.