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VOLUME 63 (1996) | ISSUE 11 |
PAGE 849
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Phase transition in metallic plasmas
Likalter A., Schneidenbach H.
The energy of a virtual atomic structure on the metallic side of the metal-nonmetal transition in a dense plasma has been estimated. Assuming nearly uniform valence electron density, the interatomic interaction is considered a Madelung energy which has been shown to be nearly one third of that for the OCP model. It has been verified by solving numerically the pseudowave equation for the valence electrons in ellipsoidal atomic cells which are compatible with the percolation structure of overlapping classically accessible spheres. A critical value of the Coulomb coupling parameter has been shown to agree with the experiment in the liquid-gas critical points of cesium and rubidium, which can be identified with the plasma-phase-transition critical points. PACS: 64.70 Fx, 71.30.+h
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