The effective dielectric constant of plasmas — A mean field theory built from the electromagnetic ionic T-matrix

This work aims to obtain the effective dielectric constant tensor of a warm plasma in the spirit of the derivation of a mixing law. The medium is made of non point-like ions immersed in an electron gas with usual conditions relating the various lengths which define the problem. In this paper the ion dielectric constants are taken from their RPA responses as developed in a previous paper [1]. Furthermore the treatment of the screening effects is made through a mathematical redefinition of the initial problem as proposed in Ref. [1]. Here the complete calculation of the T-matrix describing the scattering of an electromagnetic wave on an isolated ion immersed in an “effective medium” is given. It is used for building , in the spirit of a mixing law, a self-consistent effective medium theory for the plasma dielectric tensor. We then extend the results obtained in Ref. [1] to higher orders in ion or dielectric inclusion densities. The techniques presented are generic and can be used in areas such as elasticity, thermoelasticity, and piezoelectricity.