Transport properties of metals, alloys and their melts from lfa measurements

Laser-flash analysis data on thermal diffusivity are compared with conventional measurements of thermal conductivity on metallic condensed matter, which is permissible because thermal contact losses and radiative transfer gains are negligible. We show that the erroneous assignment of heat transport carriers as electrons rests on a factor of 3 error in the Wiedemann-Franz law. This allows some agreement with measurements near room temperature due to trade-offs in lumped model parameters. Transient experiments reveal that electrons carry miniscule amounts of heat over very short intervals, consistent with the nearly free electron model and independent results of fs-spectroscopy. Almost all heat is transferred vibrationally, as required by adiabatic conditions in parallel transport. Vibrational heat transport is confirmed by diffusivity depending strongly on disorder and crystal structure, where the trends include nonmetallic elements. Electrical resistivity is linked to vibrational heat transfer because the out-of-equilibrium oscillating cations set up an alternating current among the nimble electrons.