The electrical resistivity and thermopower of solid noble metals

Abstract

Calculations of the electrical resistivity and thermopower of the noble metals and nickel are presented. They are based on a model similar to the simple nearly free electron model used for the liquid transition metals. The scattering of the Bloch functions is described by the t matrix of a single muffin tin potential. The positive sign of the thermopower of the noble metals can be explained in terms of the magnitude of the backward scattering cross section using an argument similar to that applied in the liquid case. The peculiar shape of the Fermi surface need not be invoked in order to explain this sign.