Energy relaxation in dense, strongly coupled two-temperature plasmas.
A quantum kinetic approach for the energy relaxation in strongly coupled plasmas with different electron and ion temperatures is presented. Based on the density operator formalism, we derive a balance equation for the energies of electrons and ions connecting kinetic, correlation, and exchange energies with a quite general expression for the electron-ion energy-transfer rate. The latter is given in terms of the correlation function of density fluctuations which allows for a derivation of increasingly realistic approximation schemes including a coupled-mode expression. The equilibration of the contributions of the total energy including the species temperatures in dense hydrogen and beryllium relevant for inertial confinement fusion is investigated as an example.
Vorberger
J
J
Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, Coventry CV4 7Al, United Kingdom.
Gericke
D O
DO
Bornath
Th
T
Schlanges
M
M