Isostructural electronic anomaly in La and La-Th alloys at high pressures

Abstract

Existing high-pressure experimental data and theoretical calculations are not compatible on the nature of the 2.5-GPa transition in La. We present new resistivity and x-ray diffraction data on La-Th alloys to show that the electrical resistance anomaly is not dependent on a particular crystal structure and is not related to the 0.7-GPa γ→α isostructural electronic transition in Ce.