Diffusion in liquid alkali metals

Abstract

A simple model of atomic motion has been used to calculate the velocity autocorrelation function, its frequency spectrum, the associated memory function, and the self-diffusion coefficients for liquid alkali metals. There are no adjustable parameters in the model and the only inputs required are the interatomic potential and the pair correlation function. The predicted results are in good agreement with recent computer simulation data. The self-diffusion coefficients are found to be very close to actual experimental values for all liquid alkaline metals, including lithium, and they seem to scale, the scaling being determined by energy and length parameters for the interatomic potential and the mass.