Simple transport properties of simple metals: classical theories and modern experiments

The low-temperature DC electrical and thermal resistance of nearly-free-electron metals, such as the alkali metals and aluminium, are ideal for testing one's understanding of the basic scattering processes of electrons and phonons in a metallic environment. The greatly improved experimental capabilities of the past decade facilitated measurements, the results of which made clear that the traditional models were at least incomplete. Significant progress has hence been made in understanding the role of electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering, both normal and Umklapp; their sample dependence; other deviations from Matthiessen's rule; the influence of the lattice thermal conductivity on the transport tensor elements; the linear magnetoresistivity, and related fields. Yet, crucial questions like the existence of a charge density wave ground state in the alkali metals remain open, and new ones show up.