On the valence fluctuation in the early actinide metals

Highlights: • We make a connection between experimentally observed valence fluctuations and density functional theory. • We present a new model for valence fluctuations. • We present new experimental data for uranium and valence fluctuations. - Abstract: Recent X-ray measurements suggest a degree of valence fluctuation in plutonium and uranium intermetallics. We are applying a novel scheme, in conjunction with density functional theory, to predict 5f configuration fractions of states with valence fluctuations for the early actinide metals. For this purpose we perform constrained integer f-occupation calculations for the α phases of uranium, neptunium, and plutonium metals. For plutonium we also investigate the δ phase. The model predicts uranium and neptunium to be dominated by the f³ and f⁴ configurations, respectively, with only minor contributions from other configurations. For plutonium (both α and δ phase) the scenario is dramatically different. Here, the calculations predict a relatively even distribution between three valence configurations. The δ phase has a greater configuration fraction of f⁶ compared to that of the α phase. The theory is consistent with the interpretations of modern X-ray experiments and we present resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy results for α-uranium.