Unified description of linear screening in dense plasmas
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Electron screening of ions is among the most fundamental properties of plasmas, determining the effective ionic interactions that impact all properties of a plasma. With the development of new experimental facilities that probe high-energy-density physics regimes ranging from warm dense matter to hot dense matter, a unified framework for describing dense plasma screening has become essential. Such a unified framework is presented here based on finite-temperature orbital-free density functional theory, including gradient corrections and exchange-correlation effects. We find a new analytic pair potential for the ion-ion interaction that incorporates moderate electronic coupling, quantum degeneracy, gradient corrections to the free energy, and finite temperatures. This potential can be used in large-scale “classical” molecular dynamics simulations, as well as in simpler theoretical models (e.g., integral equations and Monte Carlo), with no additional computational complexity. The new potential theoretically connects limits of Debye-Hückel–Yukawa, Lindhard, Thomas-Fermi, and Bohmian quantum hydrodynamics descriptions. In conclusion, based on this new potential, we predict ionic static structure factors that can be validated using x-ray Thomson scattering data.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- OSTI ID:
- 1476869
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1180076
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-663574; PLEEE8; 777847
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, Vol. 91, Issue 3; ISSN 1539-3755
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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