Neutron scattering of electrons in simple metals: a band structure calculation for sodium

The authors argue a case for the value of neutron scattering studies of conduction electron properties of solids. Some general features of the neutron-electron inelastic scattering cross section are presented, together with a band-structure calculation of the cross section for sodium. The calculation has been performed for a range of momentum and energy transfers, employing a realistic band structure generated by a KKR scheme. The cross section is compared with the corresponding exact result for the uniform electron gas, or jellium model. The usefulness of comparative neutron and X-ray scattering experiments is briefly discussed.