Helmut Hofmann
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198504016
- eISBN:
- 9780191708480
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198504016.003.0016
- Subject:
- Physics, Nuclear and Plasma Physics
The stability of metal clusters exhibits shell effects similar to that of nuclei. This chapter reviews how this feature is treated in the jellium model. The main focus is on optical properties ...
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The stability of metal clusters exhibits shell effects similar to that of nuclei. This chapter reviews how this feature is treated in the jellium model. The main focus is on optical properties described by the dielectric function, which is analyzed in greater detail, first for the Drude-Lorentz model then for a fully quantal treatment. With increasing volume of the clusters, only bulk properties typical for a metal are important. For smaller systems, quantum size effects come into play. This effect is studied, reporting on microscopic calculations within the jellium model. Of special interest is the damping width, for which finite values are obtained even at small frequencies if the quantal electronic states are treated as being quasi-continuous. This mechanism is often associated with Landau damping known to conserve entropy. The problem related to this fact is examined, together with the analogous one of wall friction in finite nuclei.Less
The stability of metal clusters exhibits shell effects similar to that of nuclei. This chapter reviews how this feature is treated in the jellium model. The main focus is on optical properties described by the dielectric function, which is analyzed in greater detail, first for the Drude-Lorentz model then for a fully quantal treatment. With increasing volume of the clusters, only bulk properties typical for a metal are important. For smaller systems, quantum size effects come into play. This effect is studied, reporting on microscopic calculations within the jellium model. Of special interest is the damping width, for which finite values are obtained even at small frequencies if the quantal electronic states are treated as being quasi-continuous. This mechanism is often associated with Landau damping known to conserve entropy. The problem related to this fact is examined, together with the analogous one of wall friction in finite nuclei.
