Neutron scattering from supercooled gallium

Total, elastic and inelastic scattering measurements have been made on liquid gallium over the temperature range 272 K to 375 K. The total scattering, giving the structure factor S(Q), is only slightly temperature-dependent but elastic diffraction measurements with special reference to values of the scattering vector Q near the main peak in S(Q) (Q 0 =2.52 AA -1 ) show an appreciable increase in the peak intensity as the temperature is reduced, although no change in the position of the peak is seen. The quasi-elastic scattering measured at Q 0 is shown to have a Lorentzian frequency profile whose width increases by some 45% over the temperature range. The rate of change of this width is 0.00143+or-0.0001*10 12 Hz K -1 at 300 K. This gradient is more than twice that calculated by the T 1/2 law for free atoms.