Electrical Resistivity ofα-Cerium

Electrical-resistivity measurements have been made between 1.5 and 300 ^∘{}K on α-cerium cooled while at pressures of 10 or 18 kbar. Two types of behavior were found: Cerium quenched from 300 to 77 ^∘{}K showed the presence of a magnetic impurity, possibly clusters of β-cerium; and cerium which was slowly cooled from room temperature showed no evidence of magnetic behavior. Whereas the "magnetically impure" sample showed a strong ρ∝T² dependence at low temperatures, the slowly cooled sample had ρ∝T⁵. It is suggested that the magnetic impurity present in previous studies may have prevented the observation of superconductivity in α-cerium.