Effective Potential Theory Applied to Electron-Ion Temperature Equilibration in Dense Plasmas

We present calculations of electron-ion temperature equilibration rates in dense plasmas with degenerate electrons. This and other transport processes have consequences for the modeling of inertial confinement fusion. Modeling transport in dense plasmas is complicated by the combined effects of electron degeneracy and strong coupling of ions. Recently, an approach known as Effective Potential Theory (EPT) has been developed to extend Boltzmann transport theory to stronger coupling. EPT utilizes an effective potential that incorporates many-body physics into a binary collision integral and has had success in predicting ion-ion transport for Γ up to ~20. Extending EPT to address electron-ion transport will greatly increase its range of applications, but in many cases this must account for quantum electrons. We explore the application of the EPT concept to the quantum Boltzmann equation in order to model electron-ion temperature relaxation. Our model incorporates quantum statistics and dynamics into the scattering, in addition to utilizing a realistic quantum effective potential. This is relevant to recent experiments and prepares for further investigations of inter-species transport in strongly coupled and degenerate plasmas.