Diffusion coefficients in white dwarfs

Models of diffusion in white dwarfs universally rely on the coefficients calculated by Paquette et al. (1986). We present new calculations of diffusion coefficients based on an advanced microscopic theory of dense plasmas and a numerical simulation approach that intrinsically accounts for multiple collisions. Our method is validated against a state-of-the-art method and we present results for the diffusion of carbon ions in a helium plasma.
Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of the 19th European White Dwarf Workshop held August 11-15, 2014 in Montreal, Canada