Quantum-statistical models of hot dense matter. Methods for computation opacity and equation of state. Translated from the Russian by Andrei Iacob. (Q1886056)

The relatively simple models ordinarily described in courses on theoretical physics are not applicable when one wishes to calculate properties of matter in a sufficiently wide range of temperatures and densities. Besides, experiments aimed at generating data on properties of matter under extreme conditions usually face considerably technical difficulties and in a number of instances are exceedingly expensive. Thus it is very important to develop in a systematic manner quantum-statistical models and methods for calculating physical properties of matter. The first part of the present book is dedicated to quantum-statistical self-consistent field models. It starts with the very simple and at the same time universal generalized Thomas-Fermi model for matter with given density and temperature. This model is then replaced by other, refined ones: the modified Hartree and Hartree-Fock-Slater models, and also the relativistic Hartree-Fock-Slater model. The latter uses the Hartree self-consistent field, an approximation for local exchange that refines the Slater exchange potential, and the relativistic Dirac equation for the radial parts of the wave functions. It is interesting to note that the models mentioned above were first formulated for a free atom at temperature zero, and then generalized to arbitrary temperatures and densities for the so-called ``average atom'', which corresponds to an ion with average occupation numbers of the energy levels. It is shown that the considered quantum-statistical models can be derived by using a unified variational principle, namely, the requirement of a minimum of the grand thermodynamic potential, written in the corresponding approximation. This unified approach makes the hierarchic structure of the models transparent and allows one to keep track of the limits of applicability of the various approximations. The solution of the systems of nonlinear equations arising in the construction of self-consistent field models requires the development of special iteration methods. As an initial approximation for calculating the self-consistent potential a potential found earlier for a less precise model is used. After solving the Schrödinger (or Dirac) equation with the self-consistent potential thus obtained, it is possible to find the energy spectrum of the quantum-mechanical system, the corresponding wave functions, as well as the mean occupation numbers of electron states and the mean degree of ionization of the substance studied. The wide utilization of physical approximations in the iteration process and the special attention paid to the tight spots, which require a large expenditure of computing time, enable researchers to construct sufficiently efficient and reliable algorithms. Based on the models considered in part 1 of the book, in the second part radiative and thermodynamic properties of high-temperature dense plasmas are presented, e.g.\ spectral photon-absorption coefficients, Rosseland and Planck mean free paths, equations of state, which are necessary in the complex computations that describe hydrodynamic processes with radiative transfer in high-temperature plasmas, in particular, when laser radiation or other sources of energy act on matter. The computational work, which requires accounting for a large number of diverse effects, e.g.\ photon absorption in spectral lines, photoionization, inverse bremsstrahlung, and Compton scattering, has a very large volume. The book deals mainly with matter under local thermodynamic equilibrium. Some problems connected with nonequilibrium plasmas and methods for deriving its properties are considered at the end of part 2. The calculation of Rosseland mean free paths requires almost always detailed information on ion energy levels and wave functions. At the same time, in the computation of the equation of state one can usually restrict oneself to the average-atom (more precisely -- average-ion) model. In the setting of various models, formulas for pressure, internal energy and entropy of matter are also relatively easily derived at the end of part 2. General analytic, approximate and numerical methods to solve the Schrödinger and Dirac equations for particles moving in a central field, which supplement the traditional course on quantum mechanics, are covered in the Appendix. Here the very effective ``phase method'' for the numerical integration is of special importance. This method enables one to find energy eigenvalues with high accuracy after only two or three iterations. In those cases in which the solutions of the Schrödinger and Dirac equations can be found in analytic, closed form, it is recommended to rely not on the study of power series after one extracts the asymptotics, but on a sufficiently general and very simple method of reducing the original equations to equations of hypergeometric type. This allows one immediatedly to obtain the asymptotics and the solution in closed form in terms of classical orthogonal polynomials. In the present work, complicated problems of atomic physics are clearly presented. Calculations using the derived formulas and algorithms are illustrated by plots, tables, and are also compared with experimental results. This very good textbook is accessible to graduate students, but it is also of great interest for scientists working in the field of non-ideal plasmas.