Abstract
We present a first principles theory of the ionization equilibrium, thermodynamics, and linear transport properties of an interacting mixture of electrons and several species of ions and neutrals, which are typical of a hot plasma. The thermodynamic functions are self-consistently calculated using the density functional theory (DFT). The inputs are the nuclear charge Z, the average electron density n¯, the temperature T, and the configurations of the ions and neutrals atoms to be considered. Ion-electron pseudopotentials and ion-ion pair potentials (including repulsive core contributions) are derived from the DFT. The ionic structure factors are determined using the multicomponent hypernetted chain theory. The ion-species concentrations are obtained through a minimization of the total free-energy F at constant volume and temperature. The average ionization , the internal energy, the pressure, and the resistivity are computed. The method is illustrated by applications to aluminum plasma. In the calculations for expanded Al at T=1.5 eV we find a low-electron-density range where two solutions are obtained for a given average atomic volume; the most stable has the highest ionization. The unstable solution has an excitation energy that can reach 2.5 eV. At a higher density, the results imply a plasma phase transition from a state with average ionization =1.2 to a state with =3. We also provide calculations for a variety of expanded, compressed, and shocked plasmas, which are of current theoretical and experimental interest.
- Received 24 April 1995
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.52.5352
©1995 American Physical Society