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arXiv · 2309.09612

Quantifying ionization in hot dense plasmas

Thomas Gawne·Sam M. Vinko·Justin S. Wark
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Abstract

Ionization is a problematic quantity in that it does not have a well-defined thermodynamic definition, yet it is a key parameter within plasma modelling. One still therefore aims to find a consistent and unambiguous definition for the ionization state. Within this context we present finite-temperature density functional theory calculations of the ionization state of carbon in CH plasmas using two potential definitions: one based on counting the number of continuum electrons, and another based on the optical conductivity. Differences of up to 10\% are observed between the two methods. However, including "Pauli forbidden" transitions in the conductivity reproduces the counting definition, suggesting such transitions are important to evaluate the ionization state.

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Thomas Gawne, Sam M. Vinko, Justin S. Wark. 2023-09-18. Quantifying ionization in hot dense plasmas. https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.09612

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