Electronic Transport Properties of Liquid Less-Simple Metals

Abstract

Electronic transport properties, namely the electrical resistivity and the thermoelectric power, of liquid less-simple metals, Zn, Cd, Hg, In, Tl, Sn, Pb, Sb, and Bi, are calculated using Ziman's theory. The effective electron–ion and ion–ion interactions are described by the Bretonnet-Silbert model. The static structure factors are evaluated by the self-consistent Variational Modified Hypernetted Chain (VMHNC) integral equation of liquids. The results for the electrical resistivity are fairly good when compared with experimental data, but the agreement improves significantly when the blurring of the Fermi surface due to the finite electron mean free path is accounted for. The values of the thermoelectric power, for most systems, have the same sign and order of magnitude as the experimental ones. The results for the thermopower also show that the contribution of the energy dependent term of the electron–ion potential is significant for the concerned systems.