Electronic properties of liquid binary alloys

The transport coefficientsϱ andQ of the liquid copper-tin alloys have been computed by using in the Faber-Ziman theory a model potential which reproduces the experimental data of liquid tin and copper on a wide range of temperatures. In order to study the electrical resistivity of the alloys throughout the range of compositions, use has been made of model structure factors. For the case of the Cu6Sn5 alloy the available experimental data on the partial structure factor have been used. The results obtained from the experimental data are in fair agreement with the experimental transport coefficients, while the theoretical hard-sphere structure factors do not seem to describe correctly the experimental situation. The failure of the Nordheim rule and the possibility of some charge localization are discussed in connection with the results of the computations. The possibility of describing a liquid noble metal like copper by means of a standard pseudopotential approach is extensively discussed in connection with the Harrison-Moriarty treatment with explicitly takes into account the hybridization betweens-p andd states.