Abstract
The recent experimental study by means of time-resolved luminescence measurements of an electron-hole liquid (EHL) in diamond by Shimano et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 057404 (2002)] prompts us to compare and contrast critical temperature and critical density relations in liquid alkali metals with those in electron-hole liquids. The conclusion drawn is that these systems have similarities with regard to critical properties. In both cases the critical temperature is related to the cube root of the critical density. The existence of this relation is traced to Coulomb interactions and to systematic trends in the dielectric constant of the electron-hole systems. Finally a brief comparison between the alkalis and EHL’s of the critical values for the compressibility ratio is also given.
- Received 27 February 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.66.073314
©2002 American Physical Society