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Spatial correlation of electrons in metals
Author(s) -
March N. H.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
international journal of quantum chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.484
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-461X
pISSN - 0020-7608
DOI - 10.1002/qua.560340867
Subject(s) - jellium , electron , coulomb , alkali metal , electronic correlation , ion , chemistry , atomic physics , range (aeronautics) , condensed matter physics , physics , materials science , quantum mechanics , organic chemistry , composite material
The effect of electron‐electron repulsions is assessed, primarily in the expanded fluid alkali metals, by confronting experimental data on these systems with the predictions of theory. This is usefully divided into two types of approach: (i) full inclusion of the long‐range Coulomb interaction e 2 / r ij between electrons i and j , but perturbative treatment of electron‐ion interaction and (ii) the simplified on‐site interaction described by the Hubbard U.The main conclusion is that both electron‐ion and electron‐electron correlations are of major importance in the expanded fluid alkali metals, and especially in C s. The momentum distribution of the conduction electrons is changed in a very important quantitative way from the predictions of the jellium model at the same density by the electron‐ion interaction. This leads to a metal‐insulator transition at a much higher electron density than the jellium prediction. The relevance of this conclusion to crystalline alkalis is finally referred to.