Fluctuating valence in a correlated solid and the anomalous properties of δ-plutonium

J. H. Shim, K. Haule () and G. Kotliar
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J. H. Shim: Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8019, USA
K. Haule: Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8019, USA
G. Kotliar: Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8019, USA

Nature, 2007, vol. 446, issue 7135, 513-516

Abstract: The attraction of curium The nuclear properties of the late actinides such as plutonium and curium — familiar as substrates and by-products in nuclear reactors — are well understood. The same cannot be said of their solid-state properties, which do not fit standard models. For example, it is not clear why curium is magnetic, but plutonium is not. New electronic structure calculations have been used to identify the electronic mechanisms responsible for this anomalous behaviour. These reveal that plutonium has an unusual ground state that is a quantum superposition of two distinct atomic valences, whereas curium adopts a magnetically ordered single valence state at low temperatures.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05647

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