UC Irvine

Heavy-electron metals exhibit highly correlated electronic behavior at liquid helium temperatures, with conduction-electron masses some hundred times the free-electron mass. Whether "normal," antiferromagnetic, or superconducting, their electronic behavior differs drastically from their ordinary metallic counterparts. The physical origin of the large mass and unusual superconducting and magnetic properties is the strong coupling between the conduction electrons and the local f-electron moment fluctuations characteristic of these materials.