Isolating symmetry components of the Mg and Al DOS using momentum-transfer dependent Inelastic X-ray Scattering

We have used the non-resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (NRIXS) from core electrons to measure the dynamic structure factor of the Mg and Al L-edges for momentum transfers ($q$) ranging from 0.8 – 10.1{\AA}$^{-1}$. Changing $q$ alters the measured energy loss spectrum by allowing new, dipole-forbidden transitions to different symmetry final states. Here, we highlight the connection between dynamic structure factor and the projected components of the density of states (ldos) using a modified version of FEFF that incorporates multipole transitions. In addition to \textit{ab initio} theoretical agreement with the observed $q$-dependence, we present preliminary efforts toward obtaining an experimentally-derived ldos.