EQUATION OF STATE AND TRANSPORT-PROPERTIES OF AN INTERACTING MULTISPECIES PLASMA - APPLICATION TO A MULTIPLY IONIZED AL PLASMA

We present a first-principles theory of the ionization equilibrium, th ermodynamics, and linear transport properties of an interacting mixtur e of electrons and several species of ions and neutral atoms, typical of a hot plasma. The thermodynamic functions are self-consistently cal culated using the density functional theory (DFT). The inputs are the nuclear charge Z, the average electron density (n) over bar, the tempe rature T, and the configurations of the ions and neutral atoms to be c onsidered. Ion-electron pseudopotentials and ion-ion pair potentials ( including repulsive core contributions) are derived from the DFT. The ionic structure factors are determined using the multicomponent hypern etted chain theory. The ion-species concentrations x(i) are obtained t hrough a minimization of the total free energy F at constant volume an d temperature. The average ionization Z, the internal energy, the pre ssure, and the resistivity are computed. The method is illustrated by applications to aluminum plasma. In the calculations for expanded Al a t T=1.5 eV we find a low electron-density range where two solutions ar e obtained for a given average atomic volume; the most stable has the highest ionization. The unstable solution has an excitation energy tha t can reach 2.5 eV. At a higher density, the results imply a plasma ph ase transition from a state with average ionization Z=1.2 to a state with Z=3. We also provide calculations for a variety of expanded, com pressed, and shocked plasmas, which are of current theoretical and exp erimental interest.