On the Constitution of Metallic Sodium

Abstract

Previous developments in the theory of metals may be divided clearly into two parts: that based principally upon the hypothesis of free electrons and dealing with conductivity properties, and that based upon calculations of valence forces and dealing with the chemical properties. In the present article an intermediate point of view is adopted and the free-electron picture is employed in an investigation of chemical properties of metallic sodium. The assumption is made that in the metal the $K$ and $L$ shells of an atom are not altered from their form in the free atom. The properties of the wave functions of the electrons are discussed qualitatively, first of all, and it is concluded that the binding energy will be positive even when the Pauli principle is taken account of. This is followed by a quantitative investigation of the energy to be associated with the lowest state. First of all it is shown to what extent the present picture takes account of the interactions of electrons with both parallel and antiparallel spins, and to what extent remaining effects may be neglected. Next a Schroedinger equation is solved in order to determine the lowest energy level for various values of the lattice constant. To this a correction is made to account for the Pauli principle and from the result the lattice constant, binding energy and compressibility are calculated with favorable results.