Estimation of the effective electron mass in cerium from the data of optical experiment

The form of the dispersion dependence of the optical conductivity of liquid rare earth metals (REM) in the range of photon energies of about $2$ eV is defined by the contribution of the maximum of the density of electron states, which emerges during the Bragg scattering of electrons from the first coordination sphere of a melt. It is shown that, for liquid cerium, the experimental dependence of the optical conductivity in this range of photon energies may be described with due regard for the effective electron mass close to the value of $1.37$. It is noted that the inclusion of the effective electron mass in the classical Drude equation for the optical conductivity makes it possible to estimate the value of this parameter on the basis of the data of optical experiment.