NSLS-II Seminar

A review of some recent Inelastic X Ray Scattering (IXS) studies of the high frequency dynamics of disordered systems is proposed and it is shown how this technique may shed light onto a number of still debated topics. To mention few examples, it is illustrated how IXS can be successfully employed to achieve a physically informative study of relaxation processes in simple and complex liquids, to investigate the contribution of transverse dynamics, to tackle the controversy on the existence of propagating excitations in glasses, to observe the whole transition region between hydrodynamic and single particle regimes. Finally it is shown how IXS can provide quantitative insight on the role of quantum effects in the dynamics of simple systems. Most important, it is demonstrated that the development of a sub-meV energy resolution spectrometer would be essential to achieve a firm understanding of all these topics.