Ab initio electronic stationary states for nuclear projectiles in solids

Abstract

The process by which a nuclear projectile is decelerated by the electrons of the condensed matter it traverses is currently being studied by following the explicit dynamics of projectile and electrons from first principles in a simulation box with a sample of the host matter in periodic boundary conditions. The approach has been quite successful for diverse systems even in the strong-coupling regime of maximal dissipation. This technique is here revisited for periodic solids in light of the Floquet theory of stopping, a time-periodic scattering framework characterizing the stationary dynamical solutions for a constant velocity projectile in an infinite solid. The effect of proton projectiles in diamond is studied under that light, using time-dependent density-functional theory in real time. The Floquet quasienergy-conserving stationary scattering regime, characterized by time-periodic properties such as particle density and the time derivative of energy, is obtained for a converged system size of 1000 atoms. The validity of the customary calculation of electronic stopping power from the average slope of the density-functional total energy is discussed. Quasienergy conservation, as well as the implied fundamental approximations, are critically reviewed.