  The electronic structure of plutonium metal and its compounds pose a grand
challenge for a fundamental understanding of the Pu-5$f$ electron character.
For 30 years the plutonium chalcogenides have been especially challenging, and
multiple theoretical scenarios have been proposed to explain their unusual
behavior. We present extensive high-resolution photoemission data on a single
crystal of PuTe, which has also been proposed as a topological insulator. The
new experimental results on this mixed-valent material provide a constraint to
the theoretical modeling and new dynamical mean-field theory calculations agree
with the experimental results. Comparisons with Pu metal provide new insight in
understanding its complex electronic structure.
