  We investigate the potential energy curves of rare-gas dimers with various
ranges and strengths of interparticle interactions (nuclear-electron,
electron-electron, and nuclear-nuclear interactions). Our investigation is
based on the highly accurate coupled-cluster theory associated with those
interparticle interactions. For comparison, the performance of the
corresponding Hartree-Fock theory, second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation
theory, and density functional theory is also investigated. Our results reveal
that when the interparticle interactions retain the long-range Coulomb tails,
the nature of van der Waals interactions in the rare-gas dimers remains
similar. By contrast, when the interparticle interactions are sufficiently
short-range, the conventional van der Waals interactions in the rare-gas dimers
completely disappear, yielding purely repulsive potential energy curves.
