Dynamical electric fields in strongly coupled equilibrium plasmas

Various characteristics of dynamical electric fields in strongly coupled equilibrium one-component plasmas are inferred from the dynamical structure factor $S(\overrightarrow{\mathrm{k}},\omega )$ obtained in molecular dynamics experiments. The energy density due to all the fluctuations generated by $S(\overrightarrow{\mathrm{k}},\omega )$, narrowly peaked near the plasma frequency, is estimated, and found to be a significant fraction of $\mathrm{nT}$, ($n$=density, $T$=temperature in energy units). The resulting macroscopic field seen by the radiating atom is argued to be an oscillation at the plasma frequency with a slowly varying amplitude when the dispersion $(\omega \mathrm{vs} \overrightarrow{\mathrm{k}}$ is negligible, and a sum of fields with slowly varying amplitudes and a spread in frequencies when the dispersion is significant.