Crystal Nucleation in Dense Coulomb Plasmas

The dynamics of crystallization in strongly coupled multicomponent plasmas are largely unexplored. We use unbiased seeded molecular dynamics simulations and metadynamics to calculate the free energy of crystallites forming from supercooled Coulomb plasmas. From this free energy, we can understand the rate that Coulomb crystals form from the liquid as well as the distribution of small crystallites before complete solidification. These calculations are directly applicable to astrophysical plasmas at extreme high energy density conditions and the presented free energy calculation methods can be used to understand the pathway of many phase transitions.