Semiclassical percolation approach to electronic states in simple fluids.

Abstract

Recent microscopic studies have underscored the relevance of classical percolation ideas to electron mobility in simple fluids. We show that Wigner phase-space averaging can be used to construct a semiclassical potential on which these concepts can be defined rigorously. The conduction-band threshold energy ${\mathit{V}}_{0}$ is then determined by solving a well-defined classical continuum percolation problem. Application of our model predicts the density dependence of ${\mathit{V}}_{0}$ quantitatively for the noble-gas fluids.