Neutron investigation of the ion dynamics in liquid mercury: Evidence for collective excitations - art. no. 215504

The ion dynamics of liquid mercury was investigated by inelastic neutron sc attering. By exploiting an optimized high-resolution (similar to1 meV) expe rimental configuration, the dynamic response function was accurately measur ed. Collective excitations extending up to 0.6 Angstrom (-1) were observed with an associated velocity of 2100 +/- 80 m/s. This value is notably great er than the sound velocity, but it is provided by a simple Bohm-Staver calc ulation. The latter finding emphasizes those electron-related features in t he ion dynamics, which are common to systems as different as polyvalent and alkali metals.