Understanding Generalized Coulomb Logarithms

The Coulomb logarithm is ubiquitous in plasma physics. For ideal classical plasmas, physically motivated simple formulas suffice, but in warm dense matter, low temperature, or high-density plasmas, these simple prescriptions break down. Recent work [P. Grabowski et al., {\it Phys. Rev. Lett.} {\bf 111}, 215002 (2013)] used classical molecular dynamics to understand how strong correlation should be treated in the electron-ion collision operator of a uniform electron gas. In this talk, I will quantify quantum and inhomogeneous corrections to this operator and present simple Coulomb logarithm formulas that are fit to calculations using convergent kinetic theories.