Resistivity and thermoelectric power of molten aluminium: experiment and theory

Abstract

The electrical resistivity ρ of metallic liquid aluminium is measured as a function of temperature. The measurement needs an experimental design able to get the resistivity of a very reactive liquid metal. Liquid aluminium seems to be a simple metal. We first interpret the experimental results by using an ab initio calculation of the electrical resistivity ρ(E) as function of the electron energy, taking into account recent exchange and correlation contributions in the framework of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). But surprisingly the classical theoretical interpretation leads to an apparent inconsistency. Thus we discuss the sensitivity of the calculation on the inputs and propose improvements of the theoretical approach. They allow a better physical understanding of pure liquid aluminium which is absolutely necessary before undertaking the study of liquid aluminium alloys.

Acknowledgments

We thank again Prof. Perdew for sending to Dr. Makradi his subroutine of LDA-GGA contribution. The authors would also like to acknowledge J. C. Humbert for technical assistance during the experiments.