Dynamic linear response of atoms in plasmas and photo-absorption cross-section in the dipole approximation

We report results on the self-consistent linear response theory of quantum average-atoms in plasmas. The approach is based on the two first orders of the cluster expansion of the plasma susceptibility. A change of variable is applied, which allows us to handle the diverging free-free transitions contribution in the self-consistent induced electron density and potential. The method is first tested on the case of rare gas isolated neutral atoms. A test of the Ehrenfest-type sum rule is then performed in a case of an actual average-atom in a plasma. At frequencies much higher than the plasma frequency, the sum rule seems to be fulfilled within the accuracy of the numerical methods. Close to the plasma frequency, the method seems not to account for the cold-plasma dielectric function renormalization in the sum rule, which was correctly reproduced in the case of the Thomas-Fermi-Bloch self-consistent linear response. This suggests the need for a better accounting for the outgoing waves in the asymptotic boundary conditions. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.