Theory of plasmon decay in dense plasmas and warm dense matter

TL;DR

This paper introduces a dielectric function theory for plasmon decay in dense plasmas, predicting higher damping than traditional Landau damping, aligning better with experimental data, and explores implications for x-ray pulse generation.

Contribution

It presents a new dielectric function theory that more accurately predicts plasmon damping in dense plasmas and warm dense matter, improving upon Landau damping models.

Findings

Dielectric function theory predicts higher plasmon damping in dense plasmas.

Strong damping leads to regimes with unstable backward Raman scattering.

Potential to generate intense x-ray pulses via backward Raman compression.

Abstract

The decay of the Langmuir waves in dense plasmas is not accurately predicted by the prevalent Landau damping theory. A dielectric function theory is introduced, predicting much higher damping than the Landau damping theory. This strong damping is in better agreement with the experimentally observed data in metals. It is shown that the strong plasmon decay leads to the existence of a parameter regime where the backward Raman scattering is unstable while the forward Raman scattering is stable. This regime may be used to create intense x-ray pulses, by means of the the backward Raman compression. The optimal pulse duration and intensity is estimated.