Lifetime of a quasiparticle in an electron liquid

Abstract

We calculate the inelastic lifetime of an electron quasiparticle due to Coulomb interactions in an electron liquid at low (or zero) temperature in two and three spatial dimensions. The contribution of “exchange” processes is calculated analytically and is shown to be non-negligible even in the high-density limit in two dimensions. Exchange effects must therefore be taken into account in a quantitative comparison between theory and experiment. The derivation in the two-dimensional case is presented in detail in order to clarify the origin of the disagreements that exist among the results of previous calculations, even the ones that only took into account “direct” processes.