The alpha to gamma transition in Ce: a theoretical view from optical spectroscopy

Using a novel approach to calculate optical properties of strongly correlated systems, we address the old question of the physical origin of the alpha to gamma transition in Ce. We find that the Kondo collapse model describes the optical data better than the Mott transition picture. Our results compare well with existing thin--film experiments. We predict the full temperature dependence of the optical spectra and find the development of a pseudogap around 0.6 eV in the vicinity of the alpha to gamma phase transition.