U.S.-France Cooperative Research: The Simulation of Strongly Correlated Quantum Plasmas

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This three-year award supports cooperative research in atomic and molecular physics between D.M. Ceperley of the University of Illinois and Bernard Bermu of the Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, France, the investigators propose to develop quantum Monte Carlo methods for the properties of hydrogenic plasmas at relatively high temperatures. Plasmas are found in nature under different conditions. There are interstellar plasmas, and the plasmas in the interiors of planets and stars. Before classifying plasmas, their ionization state must be determined. The investigators will calculate the ionization state of hydrogenic plasmas under conditions were quantum effects, thermal excitations and electronic correlation are simultaneously important. This project will benefit form the complementary expertise of the U.S. investigator in quantum Monte Carlo techniques and the French investigator in high temperature plasmas and transport processes. Access to high speed computers in the countries will contribute significantly to this joint effort. The results will be of general interest to researchers in dense plasma physics and will advance our understanding of planetary and stellar structure.