Structural and thermodynamic properties of NFE liquid metals and binary alloys

From first principles, certain qualitative trends, from system to system, in simple (nearly free electron) metallic fluids are explained. The systems are viewed as ions interacting through effective forces established by valence electron action. Part I concerns pure liquids. Certain models (e.g. hard sphere, Bohm--Staver) are reviewed and form a basis for subsequent development. Ab initio interatomic forces are derived and classical liquid calculational techniques discussed, and these, together, provide an account of the broad features of observed structure factors, entropies and other properties. Part II concerns binary liquids. Certain models (e.g. hard sphere, conformal, Bhatia--March--Flory) are reviewed and provide a basis for subsequent development. The extent to which the first principles procedures of Part I can be generalized is explored and delineated, and a convenient (Bhatia--Thornton) mode of description introduced. In this way, the basic structural features, entropies and other properties of a variety of simple binaries can be qualitatively and semi-quantitatively understood. Materials discussed include Li sub 0.61 Na sub 0.39 , Na sub 0.8 Cs sub 0.2 , Al sub 50 Mg sub 50 , Cs, Zn, and Cd.