Width of the quasiparticle spectral function in a two-dimensional electron gas with spin-orbit interaction

The results of an investigation of the width of the electron and hole spectral functions in an isotropic electron gas with the Rashba spin-orbit interaction as a function of the wave vector within the G ⁰ W ⁰ approximation are reported. This kind of electron gas is used to simulate two-dimensional systems formed by electrons in In _x Ga_{1 − x} As layers of various heterostructures and by surface electron states on Au(111). It is demonstrated how the width of the spectral function changes as a result of the spin-orbit interaction and how it depends on the branch index of the energy spectrum split by this interaction.