Elastic scattering of electron in neutral plasma: Interaction model and plasma environment effects

Abstract

Elastic scattering of electrons in a plasma is studied for its pivotal role in relating transport properties to plasma composition. A unified effective potential model is developed to describe the interactions between electrons and atoms/ions in plasma. It not only contains the static Coulomb, polarization, and exchange interaction but also considers plasma environment effects with a Muffin-tin model based on the Roothaan–Hartree–Fock atomic wave functions. For electron–electron and electron–ion interactions, the dynamical screening effect is also considered by a velocity-dependent screening length. The validity of the potential model is demonstrated in the specific case of argon plasma. The calculated differential, total, and momentum transfer cross sections, as well as the electrical conductivities at varying plasma densities and temperatures, are compared to available experimental data and other calculations. These comparisons indicate that the proposed potential has correct low density limit behavior and works well for plasma in a wide range of densities and temperatures, including warm dense matter.