Anharmonic corrections to the electrostatic energy of a Coulomb crystal

A.I. Chugunov and D.A. Baiko

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2005, vol. 352, issue 2, 397-408

Abstract: Model calculations of the electrostatic energy of body-centered-cubic and face-centered-cubic Coulomb crystals are presented. The electrostatic energy is calculated using a pair distribution function of ions in the harmonic approximation. This distribution function is shown to be in a good agreement with the function derived by the Monte Carlo method in the high-temperature classical limit (T⪢ℏωp, ωp being the ion plasma frequency). It is also in a good agreement with the distribution function obtained by the path integral Monte Carlo method in the low-temperature quantum limit (T⪡ℏωp). First- and second-order anharmonic corrections to the electrostatic energy are analyzed in a wide temperature range, from the high-temperature classical regime to the low-temperature quantum regime. For typical conditions in the envelopes of neutron stars and the cores of white dwarfs the anharmonic corrections to the electrostatic energy do not exceed a few percent of the electrostatic energy of harmonic lattice.

Keywords: Coulomb crystals; Harmonic lattice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:352:y:2005:i:2:p:397-408

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2005.01.005

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