Simple analytic model for the free energy of liquid metals

Abstract

A closed analytic form for the free energy of a liquid metal is given using a simple interpolation formula for the dielectric function of the electron gas and a hard-sphere reference system for the description of the liquid structure. The ion electron interaction is described by an Ashcroft-type empty-core potential. Several empirical relationships are substantiated and numerical calculations are performed. The results of the calculations are in reasonable agreement with the experiments.