Surface plasmon dispersion for very small metallic spheres: A quantum mechanical formulation

We have derived a pair of matrix equations describing the surface plasmon dispersion for a very small spherical metal particle, using the quantum mechanical random-phase approximation (RPA). The surface of the sphere is represented by an infinite spherical potential well for the conduction electrons and the positive ions are assumed to be uniformly distributed into a “jellium”. The dispersion relation is obtained as the condition that a solution of the RPA integral equation for charge fluctuation would exist for the particle.