Summary
In this chapter, first we have briefly reviewed classical kinetic theories of an electron gas both by Drude and by Lorentz as simple models of metals. Then Sommerfeld’s elementary quantum mechanical theory of metals is discussed.
In the Drude model, the electrical conductivity \(\sigma = \frac{{n_0 e^2 \tau }}{m}\) is determined by the Newton’s law of motion given by
Here, \(n_0 = \frac{N}{V}\) and −e are the electron concentration and the charge on an electron. The thermal conductivity is given by
where \(C_{\rm v} = n_0 \frac{{{\rm d}E}}{{{\rm d}T}}\) is the electronic specific heat.
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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Quinn, J.J., Yi, KS. (2009). Free Electron Theory of Metals. In: Solid State Physics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-92231-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-92231-5_3
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-92230-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-92231-5
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