Hydrogen as an Alkaline Metal. Electron Transport Phenomena

The pairwise effective interionic interaction, the electrical conductivity and thermal EMF coefficients, and the temperature coefficient of resistivity of liquid metallic hydrogen have been calculated in a wide range of densities and temperatures. This range includes both the values achieved in the experiment and those that exist in the central regions of the giant planets. The perturbation theory in the electron–proton interaction potential is used for this. The electrical resistivity is calculated up to the third-order terms of the perturbation theory. Their role proved to be significant. For the ionic subsystem, a hard-sphere model was used. The packing density is considered one of the adjustable parameters of the theory. It is obtained as a function of density and temperature from the analysis of the effective proton–proton interaction. Its adjustment was carried out at the point of transition of hydrogen to the metallic state. Due to the lack of relevant data for metallic hydrogen, the packing density was taken in the same way as for other alkali metals: lithium, sodium, and potassium at their melting point, obtained from neutron scattering experiments.