Virial coefficients of the uniform electron gas from path-integral Monte Carlo simulations.

The properties of plasmas in the low-density limit are described by virial expansions. Analytical expressions are known from Green's function approaches only for the first three virial coefficients. Accurate path-integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulations have recently been performed for the uniform electron gas, allowing the virial expansions to be analyzed and interpolation formulas to be derived.

The 5α condensate state in Ne.

The formed He (α) clusters consisting of two neutrons and two protons can be a building block in light nuclear systems. Intriguingly, these alpha clusters could potentially form alpha condensate states within the nuclear system. The Hoyle state at 7.

Electronic transport coefficients from density functional theory across the plasma plane.

We investigate the thermopower and Lorenz number of hydrogen with Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) across the plasma plane toward the near-classical limit, i.e., weakly degenerate and weakly coupled states.

Virial expansion of the electrical conductivity of hydrogen plasmas.

The low-density limit of the electrical conductivity σ(n,T) of hydrogen as the simplest ionic plasma is presented as a function of the temperature T and mass density n in the form of a virial expansion of the resistivity. Quantum statistical methods yield exact values for the lowest virial coefficients which serve as a benchmark for analytical approaches to the electrical conductivity as well as for numerical results obtained from density functional theory-based molecular dynamics simulations (DFT-MD) or path-integral Monte Carlo simulations. While these simulations are well suited to calculate σ(n,T) in a wide range of density and temperature, in particular, for the warm dense matter region, they become computationally expensive in the low-density limit, and virial expansions can be utilized to balance this drawback.

Polarized angular-dependent reflectivity and density-dependent profiles of shock-compressed xenon plasmas.

New data for the reflectivity of shock-compressed xenon plasmas at pressures of 10-12 GPa at large incident angles are presented. In addition, measurements have been performed at different densities. These data allow to analyze the free-electron density profile across the shock wave front.