Influence of Exchange and Correlation on Electron Transport in Metals

Abstract

A result of the collective treatment of Bohm and Pines is that the dependence of electron energy $\epsilon$ on the wave vector $k$ differs from that for noninteracting free electrons. It follows that the expressions for those properties, such as conductivity and thermoelectric power, which depend on the relationship between $\epsilon$ and $k$ must be suitably modified. Electrical and thermal conductivity are altered in the same manner, suffering slight changes because of changes of the density of states at the Fermi energy and of the relaxation time. The Wiedemann-Franz ratio remains unaltered. For the alkali metals the calculated thermoelectric power is reduced slightly below the free-electron value. The changes in both conductivity and thermoelectricity are too small to permit quantitative comparison with experiment.