Review of electrical resistivity measurements of dense aluminum and comparison to theory

Four recent experiments that measured the electrical resistivity of aluminum at conditions where the aluminum is in a dense, strongly coupled, plasma state have been analyzed. The properties of dense, strongly coupled plasmas cannot be treated using standard plasma theory, which treats the correlations among particles as a small effect. Many theories have been developed which predict the properties of such plasmas, but there is little experimental data with which to compare. These recent experiments provide data for a comprehensive comparison of electrical resistivity with dense plasma theories. The experiments were carried out under a wide range of conditions, from temperatures < 1 eV up to 25 eV and densities from nearly solid to < 1% solid. The data from these experiments are compared with various theoretical models, the best of which give predictions consistent with the data for most of the experimental conditions, but not all. A discussion of yet unresolved issues is also presented. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(00)91605-7].