Electronic structure of actinides

Abstract

This paper shows that the variety of actinide properties relates to a change both in the actinide crystal structure and electronic structure with changing temperature and pressure. The change in plutonium properties during the transition from α to γ phase can correspond to the rearrangement in inner electron shell (either 5f or 6d) with the electronic configuration of outer electrons remaining unchanged. However, the electronic structure of the outer electron shell of the ε - phase dramatically differs from that of α and γ phases. Outer electron energy of the ε-phase is 4.3 eV which corresponds to the one-electron configuration of outer electrons.