We emphasize, on the basis of experimental data and theoretical calculations, that the entropic stabilization of the gamma-phase is the main driving force of the alpha-gamma transition of cerium in a wide temperature range below the critical point. Using a formulation of the total energy as a functional of the local density and of the f-orbital local Green's functions, we perform dynamical mean-field theory calculations within a new implementation based on the multiple LMTO method, which allows to include semi-core states. Our results are consistent with the experimental energy differences and with the qualitative picture of an entropy-driven transition, while also confirming the appearance of a stabilization energy of the alpha phase as the quasiparticle Kondo resonance develops.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0504732,
title = {The alpha-gamma transition of Cerium is entropy-driven},
author = {B. Amadon and S. Biermann and A. Georges and F. Aryasetiawan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0504732},
year = {2009}
}