Weyl–Wigner description of massless Dirac plasmas: ab initio quantum plasmonics for monolayer graphene

Abstract

Abstract We derive, from first principles and using the Weyl–Wigner formalism, a fully quantum kinetic model describing the dynamics in phase space of Dirac electrons in single-layer graphene. In the limit ℏ → 0, we recover the well-known semiclassical Boltzmann equation, widely used in graphene plasmonics. The polarizability function is calculated and, as a benchmark, we retrieve the result based on the random-phase approximation. By keeping all orders in ℏ, we use the newly derived kinetic equation to construct a fluid model for macroscopic variables written in the pseudospin space. As we show, the novel ℏ-dependent terms can be written as corrections to the average current and pressure tensor. Upon linearization of the fluid equations, we obtain a quantum correction to the plasmon dispersion relation, of order ℏ 2, akin to the Bohm term of quantum plasmas. In addition, the average variables provide a way to examine the value of the effective hydrodynamic mass of the carriers. For the latter, we find a relation in which Drude’s mass is multiplied by the square of a velocity-dependent, Lorentz-like factor, with the speed of light replaced by the Fermi velocity, a feature stemming from the quasi-relativistic nature of the Dirac fermions.