The microscopic dynamics in liquid gallium (l-Ga) at melting (T=315 K) has
been studied by inelastic x-ray scattering. We demonstrate the existence of
collective acoustic-like modes up to wave-vectors above one half of the first
maximum of the static structure factor, at variance with earlier results from
inelastic neutron scattering data [F.J. Bermejo et al. Phys. Rev. E 49, 3133
(1994)]. Despite the structural (an extremely rich polymorphism and rather
complex phase diagram) and electronic (mixed valence) peculiarity of l-Ga, its
collective dynamics is strikingly similar to the one of Van der Walls and
alkali metals liquids. This result speaks in favor of the universality of the
short time dynamics in monatomic liquids rather than of system-specific
dynamics.Comment: LaTex format, 11 pages, 4 EncapsulatedPostScript figure
