On violent excitations in metal clusters: a semi-classical approach

We present a non-adiabatic molecular dynamics description of metal clusters subject to violent perturbations. The electronic degrees of freedom are described at a semi-classical level, allowing an account of dynamical correlations, beyond the usual mean field density functional theory (DFT) scheme. Such an extended mean field allows to access highly non-linear dynamics, as generated, for example, through irradiation by intense lasers. We demonstrate on test cases the capability of our approach to describe such situations, as well at the electronic as at the ionic level.