Dynamical Conductivity of the Dilute Lorentz Gas with Spherically Symmetric Scatterers

The dynamical conductivity of the Lorentz gas with spherically symmetric potentials is studied to lowest order in the density of scatterers. The frequency-dependent friction coefficient is calculated from the Fourier transform of the force–force time-correlation function determined by the dynamics of a single scattering process. The corresponding dynamical conductivity varies with frequency on the scale of the inverse collision time. As an example, the conductivity is calculated for a scattering potential of the Maxwell type.