The Electrical Resistivity of Metals at High Temperatures. An Analysis for Alkali and Noble Metals

Experimental data for the electrical resistivity of K, Na, Cu, Ag and Au at high temperatures and constant volume have been analysed. In particular, corrections to the most simple theoretical model (often referred to as Ziman's model) arising from lattice anharmonicity, Debye-Waller factors, multi-phonon scattering and terms beyond the Born approximation are discussed. The net effect of all these corrections amounts at most to some 10% decrease in the resistivity close to the melting point.