Electronic structure of Pu-rich PuxAl1-x alloys

The relativistic Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker coherent-potential-approximation method has been used to calculate the band structure of the Pu0.90Al0.10 alloy, in the first application of this method to alloys containing f electrons. Partial densities of states associated with Pu and Al and various angular momentum states, as well as Bloch spectral densities as functions of energy and wave vector, have been computed. From these results a value for the low-temperature coefficient of the specific heat,, has been calculated and compared to experimental results. The discrepancy between the experimental and calculated values of is attributed to the neglect of enhancement effects such as the electron-phonon interaction and spin fluctuations.