Abstract: | Recent ab initio predictions concerning the metal-insulator (MI) transition in rings of the light alkali atoms, Li and Na, are compared and contrasted with experimental facts concerning diluted Rb and Cs alkalis. The main focus here is on the local coordination number as a function of density as these two heavy alkali metallic fluids are taken along the liquid–vapour coexistence curve towards the critical point, which in these cases coincides with the MI transition. Also recorded are the results of experiments in which Cs chains are observed at large interatomic spacing outside semiconducting substrates of InSb and GaAs. |