Wave vector dependent damping of THz collective modes in a liquid metal

Well-defined damped collective modes have been observed in liquid metals over a wide range of wave vectors. Hydrodynamics predicts that viscosity and thermal conductivity are the cause for the damping of the collective modes. Here we present experimental data from neutron spectroscopy on the damping of collective modes of liquid rubidium over a wide range of wave vectors. We propose a phenomenological model derived from generalized hydrodynamics to describe the damping of the modes and the evolution with increasing wave vector based on the viscoelastic picture of liquid response. As necessary ingredients a wave vector dependent high frequency shear modulus and shear relaxation time appear. We obtain a remarkable good agreement on a quantitative basis between experiment and calculation over a wide range of wave vectors. The emergent picture is that the lifetime of the collective modes in the THz regime is mainly limited through the diffusion of momentum. The proposed methodology might be applicable to a wide range of liquids.