The Theory of Electrical Conductivity Recent Developments

This paper explains the electrical conductivity of metals in light of recent discoveries regarding the behavior of electrons. It is claimed that these discoveries have made possible a satisfactory theory of conduction. The more important discovery is that of the wave nature of the electrons. The other new discovery is known as Pauli's ``exclusion principle'' which states that no two electrons in a wire can have exactly the same velocity and direction of motion. In working out the theory, the statistiral method of the Fermi distribution function is employed. The paper shows that the theory satisfactorily explains how there may be emissions of electrons from a hot wire in spite of the fact that very little energy is put into the electrons by raising the temperature; it explains relative resistances of metals and their alloys, the contact potential between metals, the thermoelectric effect, the Peltier effect, and the change in resistance due to a magnetic field.