EIKONAL DIFFERENTIAL SCATTERING CROSS-SECTIONS FOR ELASTIC ELECTRON-ION COLLISIONS IN STRONGLY COUPLED PLASMAS

The eikonal approximation is applied to investigate the elastic electr on-ion collision processes in strongly coupled plasmas. Plasma-screeni ng effects are investigated for the eikonal differential elastic scatt ering cross sections. The electron-ion interaction potential in strong ly coupled plasmas has been approximated by the ion-sphere model poten tial. The classical straight-line trajectory approximation is applied to the motion of the projectile electron in order to investigate the v ariation of the eikonal differential elastic scattering cross section as a function of the impact parameter and ion-sphere radius. A modifie d eikonal approximation called the Wallace correction is also consider ed. The eikonal differential elastic scattering cross sections substan tially decrease with an increase of the energy of the projectile elect ron and increase as the plasma-screening effect decreases through the ion-sphere radius. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.