Quantum Statistics of Nonideal Plasmas

Book excerpt: During the last decade impressive development and signi?cant advance of the physics of nonideal plasmas in astrophysics and in laboratories can be observed, creating new possibilities for experimental research. The enormous progress in laser technology, but also ion beam techniques, has opened new ways for the production and diagnosis of plasmas under extreme conditions, relevant for astrophysics and inertially con?ned fusion, and for the study of laser-matter interaction. In shock wave experiments, the equation of state and further properties of highly compressed plasmas can be investigated. This experimental progress has stimulated the further development of the statistical theory of nonideal plasmas. Many new results for thermodynamic and transport properties, for ionization kinetics, dielectric behavior, for the stopping power, laser-matter interaction, and relaxation processes have been achieved in the last decade. In addition to the powerful methods of quantum statistics and the theory of liquids, numerical simulations like path integral Monte Carlo methods and molecular dynamic simulations have been applied.