A variational solution for electron states in liquid metals

Abstract

Abstract Because of irregularities in the Green's function treatment carried to finite order, a variational solution based upon pseudopotentials is sought. The difficulty of orthogonality of the conduction-electron states is circumvented by constructing a many-electron state. The calculation is in close analogy to that of the superconducting ground state. It yields a one-electron energy spectrum and the plane-wave decomposition of the states. Calculations are carried out for a model simple metal and the generalization to transition metals is outlined. Though the perturbation-theoretic irregularities are eliminated and the results appear to be qualitatively correct, the computed corrections to the free-electron curves are smaller than those from the Green's function treatment. It is not clear which is nearer the truth.