LIFETIME OF SURFACE-STATE ELECTRONS ON LIQUID-HELIUM - RELATION WITH THE CHEMICAL-POTENTIAL OF THE ELECTRON LIQUID

An exact relationship is established between the lifetime of surface-state electrons on liquid helium and the correlation energy or the chemical potential of such a system. It is then combined with the result of a Monte Carlo study of the two-dimensional electron liquid; we thus derive a rigorous theoretical formula for the lifetime, applicable to those electron systems in a liquid state. The theory is formulated in such a way as to incorporate varieties of experimental conditions, such as the positions of the electrodes, the strength of the applied electric field, and the temperature. We thereby specify the experimental conditions in which the measurement of the lifetime most accurately reveals the effects associated with correlations between electrons. © 1979 The American Physical Society.