New inelastic x-ray scattering experiments have been performed on liquid lithium in a wide wave vector range. With respect to the previous measurements, the instrumental resolution, improved up to 1.5 meV, allows one to accurately investigate the dynamical processes determining the observed shape of the dynamic structure factor $S(Q,\omega )$. A detailed analysis of the line shapes shows the coexistence of relaxation processes with both slow and fast characteristic time scales, and therefore shows that pictures of the relaxation mechanisms based on a simple viscoelastic model must be abandoned.

• Received 14 March 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.4076