QUASI-CLASSICAL THEORY AND SIMULATIONS OF STRONGLY COUPLED PLASMAS

A survey on the dynamical and thermodynamical properties of plasmas wi th strong Coulomb interactions in the quasi-classical density-temperat ure region is given. First the basic theoretical concepts describing n on-ideality are discussed. The chemical picture is introduced. It is s hown that the non-ideal plasma subsystem of the free charges has a rat her large quasi-classical regime, where the quantum effects yield only corrections to the merely classical dynamics. The plasma of free char ges may be described by effective potentials which incorporate quantum effects in an approximative way. The simplest effective potentials ar e only space-dependent, more advanced methods include momentum-depende nt interactions. On the basis of these potentials analytical results a re derived and simulation methods are developed. It is shown that effe ctive potentials are appropriate for the description of thermodynamica l as well as collective properties.