Dynamical conductivity of warm dense matter from correlation functions with account for interband transitions

Abstract

Within the generalized linear response theory, the dynamical conductivity of charged particle systems is obtained from equilibrium correlation functions. Using the force–force correlation function approach, interband transitions in addition to phonon interaction and umklapp processes are taken into account for warm dense matter. For solid-density aluminum and copper plasmas, the results are shown for dynamical collision frequency, dynamical conductivity, and opacity as functions of laser frequency accounting for interband absorption. Calculated opacities for aluminum plasmas are compared with results of first-principles density functional theory–molecular dynamic (DFT-MD) simulations and recent experiments. The problem of underestimating the size of opacities by theoretical models in the vicinity of the L edge is discussed.