Molecular dynamics simulations of microfields in strongly correlated plasmas

We use molecular dynamics computer simulations to investigate the fluctuati ons of the electric microfield in a strongly coupled plasma. For a one-comp onent plasma our results for the probability distribution bridge the gap be tween expressions obtained by cluster expansions valid for weakly coupled p lasmas and those obtained in the simple harmonic oscillator model in the st rong coupling regime. In a strongly coupled two-component plasma the dynami cs does ceases to separate clearly into a fast electronic and a slow ionic component. Because of the formation of bound states the two-component autoc orrelation functions far the electric field cannot be obtained by superposi ng the autocorrelation function of the electrons and ions. With increased c oupling the conditional covariance of the microfield shows an increasing os cillatory behaviour as a function of time. This will influence the line sha pe of radiative transitions in the ions which is used as a tool for plasma diagnostics.