CALCULATION OF THE ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF LIQUID METALS

Abstract

The density of states and momentum distribution of conduction electrons in liquid metals are calculated for Al, Zn, and Bi. The theory used is a perturbation expansion of the Green function in the independent particle model. The structure factor a(K) is taken from X-ray (Al, Zn) or neutron (Bi) scattering experiments, and the screened-ion model potential u(K) of Heine and Abarenkov (1964) is used. The results indicate that if the zero of u(K) is very near the main peak of a(K), as in Al and Zn, the electronic structure is nearly free-electron-like. But if u(K) is significantly large at the peak of a(K), as in Bi, there will be significant departures from the nearly free electron model.