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Nature 410, 759-761 (12 April 2001) | doi:10.1038/35071205
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Condensed-matter physics: An expanding view of plutonium
R. C. Albers
Abstract
Interactions between electrons make it hard to predict the properties of exotic metals, such as plutonium. Better calculations that include a thorough treatment of electronic structure are the answer.
The equations of quantum mechanics are accurate but difficult to calculate for solids, because the detailed interactions between electrons must be taken into account. For 30 years physicists have been using an approximation known as the density functional theory (DFT), which allows them to calculate the ground-state properties of solids, such as their volume.
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