Critical Behavior at a Valence Instability

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The isomorphic phase transition in the system ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Th}}_{x}$, which is characterized by a delocalization of the $4f$ electron and a concomitant volume change, has been studied through measurements of the density and resitivity. For samples near the critical composition ($x\ensuremath{\simeq}0.264$) derivatives of these quantities diverge with mean-field exponents. Such mean-field behavior implies a long-force range, and suggests that electroelastic coupling dominates the critical behavior.