Temperature relaxation and generalized Coulomb logarithm in two-temperature dense plasmas relevant to inertial confinement fusion implosions

Abstract

Abstract Detailed knowledge of energy exchange between electrons and ions is of fundamental importance for the description of temperature relaxation and also other nonequilibrium physics in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). We present a theoretical model for the temperature relaxation rate and the related generalized Coulomb logarithm based on the Quantum Lenard–Balescu (QLB) kinetic equation, where no special cutoffs are needed to be introduced. To describe the collective modes characterizing the ionic acoustic waves, a single-pole approximation is introduced for the ionic dielectric response. The proposed model for the generalized Coulomb logarithm is examined over a wide range of plasma conditions for electron temperatures between 102 and 105 eV and electron densities between 1022 and 10 26 c m − 3 . The values of the generalized Coulomb logarithm are demonstrated to be in excellent agreement with the ones evaluated using the original QLB kinetic approach but with much less computational cost. Comparisons with molecular dynamics simulations and other theoretical approaches are presented. For further applications of our model, we present results for the recently measured experimental Coulomb logarithm. Compared to other widely applied models such as the Landau–Spitzer Coulomb logarithm, our model provides more consistent descriptions for the results of molecular dynamics simulations and also for the experimental outcomes. Our model for the generalized Coulomb logarithm is easy to calculate and can benefit efficient and reliable simulations for the ICF implosions.