  A simple tight-binding model is constructed for the description of the
electronic structure of some Ce-based filled skutterudite compounds showing an
energy gap or pseudogap behavior. Assuming band-diagonal electron interactions
on this tight-binding model, the optical conductivity spectrum is calculated by
applying the second-order self-consistent perturbation theory to treat the
electron correlation. The correlation effect is found to be of great importance
on the description of the temperature dependence of the optical conductivity.
The rapid disappearance of an optical gap with increasing temperature is
obtained as observed in the optical experiment for Ce-based filled-skutterudite
compounds.
