MANY-BODY ORIGIN OF THE PLASMON RESONANCE IN SMALL METAL-CLUSTERS

The origin of the plasmon excitation in small metal clusters is studied within the jellium model through ab initio electronic-structure calculations based on the nuclear shell model. In the limit of infinite size, the plasmon classically represents pure harmonic motion of the center of mass of the valence electrons. It is shown that this limit is already well approximated by clusters of only eight electrons.