Jellium

Jellium, also known as the uniform electron gas (UEG) or homogeneous electron gas (HEG), is a <a href="/facts/Quantum_mechanical/BRc3Mzgr">quantum mechanical</a> model of interacting free <a href="/facts/Electron/L0KBo5cW">electrons</a> in a solid where the complementary <a href="/facts/Positive_charge/xxsBfmlB">positive charges</a> are not atomic nuclei but instead an idealized background of uniform positive charge density. This model allows one to focus on the effects in solids that occur due to the quantum nature of electrons and their mutual repulsive interactions (due to like charge) without explicit introduction of the <a href="/facts/Crystal_lattice/7gQKTsXk">atomic lattice</a> and structure making up a real material. Jellium is often used in <a href="/facts/Solid-state_physics/Cmc6hvyR">solid-state physics</a> as a simple model of delocalized electrons in a metal, where it can qualitatively reproduce features of real metals such as <a href="/facts/Electric-field_screening/hDR3NcJa">screening</a>, <a href="/facts/Plasmon/kuCMxx5f">plasmons</a>, <a href="/facts/Wigner_crystal/GECG0eoS">Wigner crystallization</a> and <a href="/facts/Friedel_oscillation/QyqrshEs">Friedel oscillations</a>.
At <a href="/facts/Zero_temperature/U3UyPl2K">zero temperature</a>, the properties of jellium depend solely upon the constant <a href="/facts/Electronic_density/L5yDsk6j">electronic density</a>. This property lends it to a treatment within <a href="/facts/Density_functional_theory/wwz4Gqdg">density functional theory</a>; the formalism itself provides the basis for the <a href="/facts/Local-density_approximation/zJzL3tMF">local-density approximation</a> to the exchange-correlation energy density functional.
The term jellium was coined by <a href="/facts/Conyers_Herring/nSYXaYzu">Conyers Herring</a> in 1952, alluding to the "positive jelly" background, and the typical metallic behavior it displays.

Jellium open-in-new

Jellium