Quantum mechanical model for the study of pressure ionization in the superconfiguration approach

The knowledge of plasma equation of state and photoabsorption requires suitable and realistic models for the description of ions. The number of relevant electronic configurations of ions in hot dense plasmas can be immense (increasing with atomic number Z). In such cases, calculations relying on the superconfiguration approximation appear to be among the best statistical approaches to photoabsorption in plasmas. The superconfiguration approximation enables one to perform rapid calculation of averages over all possible configurations representing excited states of bound electrons. We present a thermodynamically consistent model involving detailed screened ions (described by superconfigurations) in plasmas. The density effects are introduced via the ion-sphere model. In the usual approaches, bound electrons are treated quantum mechanically while free electrons are described within the framework of semi-classical Thomas–Fermi theory. Such a hybrid treatment can lead to discontinuities in the thermodynamic quantities when pressure ionization occurs. We propose a model in which all electrons (bound and free) are treated quantum mechanically. Furthermore, resonances are carefully taken into account in the self-consistent calculation of the electronic structure of each superconfiguration. The model provides the contribution of electrons to the main thermodynamic quantities, together with a treatment of pressure ionization, and gives a better insight into the electronic properties of hot dense plasmas.