THE ABSORPTION-SPECTRUM OF THE SOLVATED ELECTRON IN FLUID HELIUM BY MAXIMUM-ENTROPY INVERSION OF IMAGINARY TIME-CORRELATION FUNCTIONS FROM PATH-INTEGRAL MONTE-CARLO SIMULATIONS

The dipole absorption spectrum of an electron in fluid helium is calculated by the maximum entropy method (MEM) numerical inversion of quantum Monte Carlo data obtained from a path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulation at 309 K at the reduced densities p*=0.1,0.3,0.5,0.7, and 0.9, Our results agree with the RISM-polaron theory results of Nichols and Chandler [A. L. Nichols III and D. Chandler, J. Chem. Phys. 87, 6671 (1987)] and the grid wave function calculation of Coker and Berne [D. F. Coker and B. J. Berne, J. Chem. Phys. 89, 2128 (1988)]. The method generated the expected long high frequency tail and the low density zero-frequency intensity caused by high conductivity. The method has also been tested by comparing the MEM absorption spectrum to the analytical spectrum of an electron confined in a spherical cavity of fluctuating radius, a model for a solvated electron in a localized state. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.