Correlation between high-temperature and low-temperature electron-electron scattering for the alkali metals

An analysis of the temperature dependence of the coefficient A_ee of the T² term due to the electron-electron scattering contribution to the electrical resistivity defined by rho _ee(T)=A _eeT², is presented for the alkali metals. In contrast to the standard theory, which predicts a temperature-independent value for A _ee, there are two different contributions to the temperature dependence of A_ee, there are two different contributions to the temperature dependence of A_ee, one arising from anisotropic electron-dislocation scattering and the second arising from the electron-phonon interaction. It is shown that the temperature dependence of A_ee is significantly different for each of three classes of metals. The first contribution to the temperature dependence of A_ee is large only for the alkali metals, but small for the noble and simple polyvalent metals, whereas the second contribution is large only for the simple polyvalent metals, but small for the noble and alkali metals.