DIELECTRIC SCREENING IN CHARGED BOSE VERSUS FERMI LIQUIDS

Abstract

We briefly review the available theoretical results on dielectric screening properties of a fluid of charged bosons at zero temperature in comparison with those of a fluid of charged fermions. The paper is intended to highlight for the nonspecialists the differences in behavior that arise from the difference in statistics. After a general introduction to the dielectric screening function and to the local field factor accounting for exchange and correlation in dielectric screening, we focus on (i) the dependence of the static dielectric function on wave number and the screening of a charged impurity, (ii) the structure factor, the pair distribution function, and the ground state energy, and (iii) the spectrum of collective excitations. The review is concluded with some remarks on open questions and possible further developments.