Impact of free electron degeneracy on collisional rates in plasmas
Abstract
Degenerate plasmas, in which quantum effects dictate the behavior of free electrons, are ubiquitous on earth and throughout space. Transitions between bound and free electron states determine basic plasma properties, yet the effects of degeneracy on these transitions have only been theorized. Here, we use an x-ray free electron laser to create and characterize a degenerate plasma. We observe a core electron fluorescence spectrum that cannot be reproduced by models that ignore free electron degeneracy. We show that degeneracy acts to restrict the available electron energy states, thereby slowing the rate of transitions to and from the continuum. We couple degeneracy and bound electron dynamics in an existing collisional-radiative code, which agrees well with observations. The impact of the shape of the cross section, and hence the magnitude of the correction due to degeneracy, is also discussed. This study shows that degeneracy in plasmas can significantly influence experimental observables such as the emission spectra, and that these effects can be included parametrically in well-established atomic physics codes. This work narrows the gap in understanding between the condensed-matter and plasma phases, which coexist in myriad scenarios.
- Authors:
- more »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1580672
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1643781
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-759620
Journal ID: ISSN 2643-1564; PPRHAI; 033216
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515; SF00515; AC52- 07NA27344; AC52-07NA27344
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review Research
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Physical Review Research Journal Volume: 1 Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 2643-1564
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Citation Formats
Williams, Gareth O., Chung, H. -K., Künzel, S., Hilbert, V., Zastrau, U., Scott, H., Daboussi, S., Iwan, B., Gonzalez, A. I., Boutu, W., Lee, H. J., Nagler, B., Granados, E., Galtier, E., Heimann, P., Barbrel, B., Lee, R. W., Cho, B. I., Renaudin, P., Merdji, H., Zeitoun, Ph., and Fajardo, M. Impact of free electron degeneracy on collisional rates in plasmas. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.1.033216.
Williams, Gareth O., Chung, H. -K., Künzel, S., Hilbert, V., Zastrau, U., Scott, H., Daboussi, S., Iwan, B., Gonzalez, A. I., Boutu, W., Lee, H. J., Nagler, B., Granados, E., Galtier, E., Heimann, P., Barbrel, B., Lee, R. W., Cho, B. I., Renaudin, P., Merdji, H., Zeitoun, Ph., & Fajardo, M. Impact of free electron degeneracy on collisional rates in plasmas. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.1.033216
Williams, Gareth O., Chung, H. -K., Künzel, S., Hilbert, V., Zastrau, U., Scott, H., Daboussi, S., Iwan, B., Gonzalez, A. I., Boutu, W., Lee, H. J., Nagler, B., Granados, E., Galtier, E., Heimann, P., Barbrel, B., Lee, R. W., Cho, B. I., Renaudin, P., Merdji, H., Zeitoun, Ph., and Fajardo, M. Tue .
"Impact of free electron degeneracy on collisional rates in plasmas". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.1.033216.
@article{osti_1580672,
title = {Impact of free electron degeneracy on collisional rates in plasmas},
author = {Williams, Gareth O. and Chung, H. -K. and Künzel, S. and Hilbert, V. and Zastrau, U. and Scott, H. and Daboussi, S. and Iwan, B. and Gonzalez, A. I. and Boutu, W. and Lee, H. J. and Nagler, B. and Granados, E. and Galtier, E. and Heimann, P. and Barbrel, B. and Lee, R. W. and Cho, B. I. and Renaudin, P. and Merdji, H. and Zeitoun, Ph. and Fajardo, M.},
abstractNote = {Degenerate plasmas, in which quantum effects dictate the behavior of free electrons, are ubiquitous on earth and throughout space. Transitions between bound and free electron states determine basic plasma properties, yet the effects of degeneracy on these transitions have only been theorized. Here, we use an x-ray free electron laser to create and characterize a degenerate plasma. We observe a core electron fluorescence spectrum that cannot be reproduced by models that ignore free electron degeneracy. We show that degeneracy acts to restrict the available electron energy states, thereby slowing the rate of transitions to and from the continuum. We couple degeneracy and bound electron dynamics in an existing collisional-radiative code, which agrees well with observations. The impact of the shape of the cross section, and hence the magnitude of the correction due to degeneracy, is also discussed. This study shows that degeneracy in plasmas can significantly influence experimental observables such as the emission spectra, and that these effects can be included parametrically in well-established atomic physics codes. This work narrows the gap in understanding between the condensed-matter and plasma phases, which coexist in myriad scenarios.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevResearch.1.033216},
journal = {Physical Review Research},
number = 3,
volume = 1,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {12}
}
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