Anomalous properties of PrMg3 with the cubic Γ3 ground state

Abstract The electrical resistivity ρ ( T ) has been measured on a single crystal of PrMg 3 . PrMg 3 shows a Kondo-like broad anomaly in the specific heat C P ( T ) at low T arising from multipole (quadrupole and octupole) degrees of freedom of the non-magnetic, non-Kramers Γ 3 doublet ground state of Pr 3+ ions. Observed non-Kondo-like behavior of ρ ( T ) is discussed in connection with similar behavior in closely related PrAg 2 In, where we show that the characteristic band structure and the symmetry properties of the hybridization between conduction and f electrons can explain the seemingly contradictory behavior between C P ( T ) and ρ ( T ).