AB-INITIO MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS METHOD BASED ON THE RESTRICTED PATH-INTEGRAL - APPLICATION TO THE ELECTRON-PLASMA AND LIQUID ALKALI-METAL

We introduce an ab initio molecular-dynamics method based on the discr etized path-integral representation of quantum particles. Fermi statis tics is automatically generated by an effective exchange potential. Th is path-integral molecular-dynamics method is able to simulate electro n plasmas at the border of the degenerate and the semidegenerate regim es with a satisfactory level of accuracy. Application of the method to the simulation of a liquid alkali metal demonstrates its potential in the simulation of real systems from first principles. [S0163-1829(98) 00436-6].