A comparative study of dielectric response function models for liquid water.

Various methodologies that aim at an analytic representation of the dielectric response function (DRF) of liquid water with emphasis on the Bethe ridge region are compared. The use of optical data is a common feature to all models presented providing an empirical ground for modelling the valence energy losses where many-body (and phase) effects are expected to be most prevalent. The dispersion models used for describing the momentum dependence of the DRF are evaluated against the recent inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) spectroscopy data. Recent developments along the lines of Ritchie's extended-Drude scheme for an improved representation of the experimental Bethe ridge are presented.