The electrical resistivity of the simple metals

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Abstract
Within the past decade, high-resolution measurements of the electrical resistivity of the simple metals at low temperatures have yielded new data that are in striking contradiction to the generally accepted theories. Three examples are given here. Thus it was found that the temperature-dependent part of the resistivity does not follow the expected T 5 Bloch law for any metal over any temperature range; the electron-electron scattering resistivity was found to exhibit a very marked sample dependence; and order-of-magnitude deviations from Matthiessen's rule were found at low temperatures. Recent data for the low-temperature electrical resistivity will be reviewed and a theory presented that accounts for all the observed ‘anomalies’. A central feature of the theory is the presence in a metal of four scattering mechanisms acting simultaneously: electron-phonon scattering, electron-electron scattering, electron-dislocation scattering and electron-impurity scattering.