Plasmon excitation by charged particles in solids, surfaces, and nanostructures: Following the trail of RH Ritchie

The phenomenon of bulk and surface plasmons in solids of different geometries is analyzed in detail, giving special consideration to Ritchie's pioneering works and his relevant contributions to the advance of the knowledge in the field. A review of plasmon processes is made, illustrating the characteristics of surface and bulk modes and showing alternative formulations based on the dielectric function formalism, the hydrodynamical model, and the Hamiltonian method. The main characteristics of plasmons in infinite media, planar interfaces, cylindrical, and spherical nanostructures are discussed.