Absorption of radiation by small metallic particles: a general self-consistent approach

We introduce a theory for the absorption of electromagnetic radiation by small metal particles, which generalises the random phase approximation by incorporating both electric and magnetic dipole absorption within a unified self-consistent scheme. We demonstrate the equivalence of the new approach to a superficially dissimilar perturbative approach. We show how to obtain solutions to the self-consistent equations using a classical approximation, taking into account the non-locality of the polarisability and the conductivity tensor. We discuss the nature of the self-consistent solutions for diffusive and ballistic electron dynamics.