Opto-criticality in Drude metals near the plasma frequency
Abstract
Within a simple unified framework of classical electrodynamics that incorporates background bound charges and currents, we have analytically determined the attenuation constant, phase constant, and reflectivity of Drude metals across the full frequency spectrum (0 < ω< ∞).Our result for reflectivity agrees well with existing experimental data for both plasmas and seawater. Notably, for highly conductive Drude metals (ωp τ≫ 1), the attenuation constant simplifies to k- ≃ √(με/2) √(ωp2 − ω2 + |ωp2 − ω2|) across a broad high-frequency range spanning the plasma frequency ωp. The branch-point singularity at ω=ωp in this relation reveals opto-critical behavior near ω=ωp in properties such as the attenuation constant, group velocity, and complex dielectric constant, for which we have determined the corresponding opto-critical exponents. Furthermore, we have incorporated quantum corrections into these optical properties via the Drude-Sommerfeld model with Thomas-Fermi screening.
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BibTeX
@misc{behera2026optocriticality,
title = {{Opto-criticality in Drude metals near the plasma frequency}},
author = {Bikram Keshari Behera and Rhitabrata Bhattacharyya and Shyamal Biswas},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.08107},
eprint = {2605.08107},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.08107},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Opto-criticality in Drude metals near the plasma frequency
AU - Bikram Keshari Behera
AU - Rhitabrata Bhattacharyya
AU - Shyamal Biswas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/17
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.08107
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.08107
AB - Within a simple unified framework of classical electrodynamics that incorporates background bound charges and currents, we have analytically determined the attenuation constant, phase constant, and reflectivity of Drude metals across the full frequency spectrum (0 < ω< ∞).Our result for reflectivity agrees well with existing experimental data for both plasmas and seawater. Notably, for highly conductive Drude metals (ω_p τ≫ 1), the attenuation constant simplifies to k_- ≃ √(με/2) √(ω_p^2 − ω^2 + |ω_p^2 − ω^2|) across a broad high-frequency range spanning the plasma frequency ω_p. The branch-point singularity at ω=ω_p in this relation reveals opto-critical behavior near ω=ω_p in properties such as the attenuation constant, group velocity, and complex dielectric constant, for which we have determined the corresponding opto-critical exponents. Furthermore, we have incorporated quantum corrections into these optical properties via the Drude-Sommerfeld model with Thomas-Fermi screening.
ER -