Attraction between like-charged walls: Short-ranged simulations using local molecular field theory.

Effective attraction between like-charged walls mediated by counterions is studied using local molecular field (LMF) theory. Monte Carlo simulations of the "mimic system" given by LMF theory, with short-ranged "Coulomb core" interactions in an effective single particle potential incorporating a mean-field average of the long-ranged Coulomb interactions, provide a direct test of the theory, and are in excellent agreement with more complex simulations of the full Coulomb system by Moreira and Netz [Eur. Phys. J. E 8, 33 (2002)]. A simple, generally applicable criterion to determine the consistency parameter sigma(min) needed for accurate use of the LMF theory is presented.