Structural and thermodynamic properties of NFE liquid metals and binary alloys

Abstract

This work seeks to explain, from first principles, certain qualitative trends, from system to system, in simple NFE (nearly free electron) metallic fluids. The systems are viewed as ions interacting through effective forces established by valence electron action. The first part concerns pure liquids. Certain models (e.g. hard sphere, Bohm-Staver) are reviewed and form a basis for subsequent development. Ab initio interatomic forces are derived and classical liquid calculational techniques discussed and these, together, provide an account of the broad features of observed structure factors, entropies and other properties. The second part concerns binary liquids. Certain models (e.g. hard sphere, conformal, Bhatia-March-Flory) are reviewed and provide a basis for subsequent development.