Theory of the Hall effect in simple liquid metals

Abstract

The contribution to the Hall coefficient from skew scattering (lack of symmetry of the scattering probability between initial and final states) due to the spin-orbit interaction is evaluated for liquid non-transition metals. There is no contribution in Born approximation, so a phase-shift treatment of the scattering is necessary. The theory explains why significant deviations of the Hall coefficient from its classical value occur in only a few cases. The residual quantitative differences between calculated and measured values are ascribed to uncertainties in the phase shifts and, in some cases, to uncertainties in the experimental results.