OPTICAL EVIDENCE OF 4F-BAND FORMATION IN CEN

We report ab initio calculations of the ground state and optical prope rties of CeN, which show that the 4f electrons in CeN are itinerant an d that the intra-atomic 4f-Coulomb interaction is largely screened. A coherent 4f band of width similar to 2 eV is formed, from which an acc urate description of the optical spectrum is obtained. The lattice par ameter, linear specific heat coefficient, and magnetic susceptibility are also well reproduced. While CeN was previously classified to be a mixed Valence compound, our results show that the more appropriate pic ture is that of a 4f-band material.