Search

We present results for the ionic structure in dense, moderately to strongly coupled plasmas using two models: the mean spherical approximation (MSA) and the hypernetted chain (HNC) approach. While the first method allows for an analytical solution, the latter has to be solved iteratively. Independent of the coupling strength, the results show only small differences when the ions are considered to form an unscreened one-component plasma (OCP) system. If the electrons are treated as a polarizable background, the different ways to incorporate the screening yield, however, large discrepancies between the models, particularly for more strongly coupled plasmas. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.

We present measurements of the changes in the microscopic structure of graphite in a laser-driven shock experiment with X-ray scattering. Laser radiation with intensities of ∼2 × 10 13 W/cm 2 compressed the carbon samples by a factor of two reaching pressures of ∼90 GPa. Due to the change of the crystalline structure the scattered signals of the probe radiation were modified significantly in intensity and spectral composition compared to the scattering on cold samples. It is shown that the elastic scattering on tightly bound electrons increases strongly due to the phase transition whereas the inelastic scattering on weakly bound electrons remains nearly unchanged for the chosen geometry. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

We demonstrate the possibilities of classical integral equations (HNC approach) and ab initio quantum simulations (DFT-MD) to yield structural properties of warm dense matter needed to model and interpret X-ray scattering signals. For that goal, the electronic as well as the ionic structure is needed. We show that the classical hypernetted chain equations yield reasonable ion-ion structure factors if statically screened potentials are used. The electronic densities, however, must be calculated fully quantum-mechanically within density functional theory. Taking warm, slightly compressed Lithium as an example, it is demonstrated that the correlations with the surrounding medium modify even wave functions of tightly bound electrons (1s shell) significantly. Due to the more extended wave functions smaller X-ray scattering cross-sections are expected. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We investigate the effect of non-equilibrium electron distributions in the analysis of Thomson scattering for a range of conditions of interest to inertial confinement fusion experiments. Firstly, a generalised one-component model based on quantum statistical theory is given in the random phase approximation (RPA). The Chihara expression for electron-ion plasmas is then adapted to include the new non-equilibrium electron physics. The theoretical scattering spectra for both diffuse and dense plasmas in which non-equilibrium electron distributions are expected to arise are considered. We find that such distributions strongly influence the spectra and are hence an important consideration for accurately determining the plasma conditions.

We employ a pseudopotential approach to investigate the screening of ionic cores in partially ionized plasmas. Here, the effect of the tightly bound electrons is condensed into an effective potential between the (free) valence electrons and the ionic cores. Even for weak electron-ion coupling, the corresponding screening clouds show strong modifications from the Debye result for elements heavier than helium. Modifications of the theoretically predicted x-ray scattering signal and implications on measurements are discussed.

We investigate the microscopic structure of strongly coupled ions in warm dense matter using ab initio simulations and hypernetted chain (HNC) equations. We demonstrate that an approximate treatment of quantum effects by weak pseudopotentials fails to describe the highly degenerate electrons in warm dense matter correctly. However, one-component HNC calculations for the ions agree well with first-principles simulations if a linearly screened Coulomb potential is used. These HNC results can be further improved by adding a short-range repulsion that accounts for bound electrons. Examples are given for recently studied light elements, lithium and beryllium, and for aluminum where the extra short-range repulsion is essential.

We investigate the structure in warm dense matter by ab initio simulations and classical fluid equations. This comparison yields valuable information on the system properties such as effective ion-ion interactions and charge states. Extensions to systems with multiple ion species are discussed and the limits of reduced descriptions are demonstrated. The structural information is then used to predict the signal strength in x-ray scattering experiments which, in turn, can be used as diagnostics for warm dense fluids. Here, we need to consider the inelastic feature due to the dynamic response of free electrons as well as the elastic (Rayleigh) peak related to the static ion structure. In a last example, we apply ab initio simulations to calculate the ionic structure in highly excited graphite close to melting.