Variational theory of average-atom and superconfigurations in quantum plasmas

Journal Article · Tue May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVE.75.056402· OSTI ID:21072439

Blenski, T ^[1]; Cichocki, B ^[2]

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1. CEA, Centre d'Etudes de Saclay, DSM/DRECAM/SPAM, Batiment 522, F91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France)
2. Institute of Theoretical Physics, Warsaw University, Hoza 69, 00-681 Warsaw (Poland)

Models of screened ions in equilibrium plasmas with all quantum electrons are important in opacity and equation of state calculations. Although such models have to be derived from variational principles, up to now existing models have not been fully variational. In this paper a fully variational theory respecting virial theorem is proposed--all variables are variational except the parameters defining the equilibrium, i.e., the temperature T, the ion density n{sub i} and the atomic number Z. The theory is applied to the quasiclassical Thomas-Fermi (TF) atom, the quantum average atom (QAA), and the superconfigurations (SC) in plasmas. Both the self-consistent-field (SCF) equations for the electronic structure and the condition for the mean ionization Z* are found from minimization of a thermodynamic potential. This potential is constructed using the cluster expansion of the plasma free energy from which the zero and the first-order terms are retained. In the zero order the free energy per ion is that of the quantum homogeneous plasma of an unknown free-electron density n{sub 0}=Z*n{sub i} occupying the volume 1/n{sub i}. In the first order, ions submerged in this plasma are considered and local neutrality is assumed. These ions are considered in the infinite space without imposing the neutrality of the Wigner-Seitz (WS) cell. As in the Inferno model, a central cavity of a radius R is introduced, however, the value of R is unknown a priori. The charge density due to noncentral ions is zero inside the cavity and equals en{sub 0} outside. The first-order contribution to free energy per ion is the difference between the free energy of the system 'central ion+infinite plasma' and the free energy of the system 'infinite plasma'. An important part of the approach is an 'ionization model' (IM), which is a relation between the mean ionization charge Z* and the first-order structure variables. Both the IM and the local neutrality are respected in the minimization procedure. The correct IM in the TF case is found to be Z-Z*={integral}d{sup 3}r[n(r-vector)-n{sub 0}], where n(r-vector) is the first-order electron density. It is shown that in the QAA case the same IM has to be used and that other IMs lead to unphysical solutions. With this IM R becomes in both cases (TF and QAA) equal to the WS radius and the variational calculation leads to SCF equations in an infinite plasma while n{sub 0} (or equivalently Z*) is to be found from the condition {integral}d{sup 3}r {theta}(r-R)V{sub el}(r-vector)=0, where {theta} denotes Heaviside function and V{sub el}(r-vector) is the SCF electrostatic potential. In the SC case results are similar except that averages over all superconfigurations appear. In the TF case the condition for n{sub 0} gives the neutrality of the WS sphere and one gets the classical TF ion-in-cell average atom. The situation is different in the QAA and in the SC cases in which the cavity is not neutral and the SCF potential V{sub el}(r-vector) is not zero outside the cavity. Due to the fully variational character of our approach the expression for the thermodynamic pressure in all cases does not require any numerical differentiation and is consistent with the virial theorem.

• OSTI ID: 21072439
• Journal Information: Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics, Vol. 75, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.75.056402; (c) 2007 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-651X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATOMS
CHARGE DENSITY
CLUSTER EXPANSION
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ELECTRONS
EQUATIONS OF STATE
EQUILIBRIUM PLASMA
FREE ENERGY
HOMOGENEOUS PLASMA
ION DENSITY
IONIZATION
IONS
OPACITY
PLASMA SIMULATION
POTENTIALS
QUANTUM PLASMA
THOMAS-FERMI MODEL
VARIATIONAL METHODS
VIRIAL THEOREM