Longitudinal and transversal collective modes in strongly correlated plasmas

Abstract

We investigate excitations in strongly coupled one-component plasmas with the help of molecular-dynamics computer simulations. As dynamical observables we study the dynamical structure factor, the velocity autocorrelation function, and the longitudinal and transversal current correlation functions. The results on these observables can be related to each other in the framework of a mode-coupling theory. The appearance of transversal collective shear modes indicates liquid behavior, and is a precursor for an eventual transition to a Wigner lattice.