Band theory predicts both K3C60 and K4C60 to be metals; various experimental probes show that while K3C60 is indeed metallic, K4C60 appears to be insulating. The standard view of this apparent failure of the single-particle picture is that electron correlation is predominant. We describe an alternative scenario, motivated on theoretical grounds, which invokes a spin- or charge-density-wave state to explain the observed insulating behavior.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/9309026,
title = {Do the A4c60 Fullerides Have a Broken-Symmetry Ground State?},
author = {Steven C. Erwin and Christoph Bruder},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/9309026},
year = {2009}
}