Contact melting of transition metals

Contact melting of transition metals is discussed on the basis of ideas about the formation of stable electron configurations in condensed systems. It is shown that the contact-melting temperature increases as the statistical weight and energetic stability of the most stable electronic configurations of the crystals in contact increase. The statistical weight of the stable electronic configurations of a crystal is associated with its stability determinant, constructed from the second derivatives of the thermodynamic potential. A proposed dependence of the contact-melting temperature on the statistical weight of stable electronic configurations is confirmed experimentally.Translated from Izvestiya VUZ. Fizika, No. 10, pp. 99–104, October, 1969.