Phase transition in strongly degenerate hydrogen plasma
V. S. Filinov, V. E. Fortov, M. Bonitz*, P. R. Levashov
Institute for High Energy Densities RAS, 127412 Moscow, Russia
*Fachbereich Physik, Universität Rostock, D-18051 Rostock, Germany
PACS: 52.25.Kn, 52.65.Pp
Abstract
Direct fermionic path-integral Monte-Carlo simulations of strongly
coupled hydrogen are presented. Our results show evidence for the hypothetical
plasma phase transition. Its most remarkable manifestation is the appearance
of metallic droplets which are predicted to be crucial for
the electrical conductivity allowing to explain the rapid increase
found in recent shock compression measurments.