Many body theory of resonant dielectric susceptibility in a gas

A theory is developed for the resonant dielectric susceptibility of a high density gas which consists of two level atoms interacting through the dipole–dipole potential. A many body collision model, which includes the binary as well as the shielding effects, is investigated. The linear response of the dielectric is given by a generalized transport equation. Self-consistent coupled equations are derived for the various collision operators, using the propagator techniques. In the two limiting cases, the results of the binary collision model and those of the shielded interaction model, respectively, are recovered. The equations are simplified by neglecting the nonresonant contributions. Finally, a solution is obtained in the resonance broadening approximation. The resulting expression for the dielectric susceptibility includes the two body collision as well as the many body shielding effects. In particular, it includes the important collective excitation transfer effects. The proposed many body collision model should be appropriate for the resonant, linear response of high density gases.