Electrical conductivity of hydrogen plasmas: Low-density benchmarks and virial expansion including e–e collisions

Abstract

An improved virial expansion for the low-density limit of the electrical conductivity σ(T,n) of hydrogen as the simplest ionic plasma is presented. Quantum statistical methods provide exact values for the lowest virial coefficients, which serve as a benchmark for analytical approaches to electrical conductivity as well as for numerical results from density functional theory-based molecular dynamics simulations (DFT-MD) or path-integral Monte Carlo simulations. The correction factor introduced by Reinholz et al. [Phys. Rev. E 91, 043105 (2015)] is applied to describe the inclusion of electron–electron collisions in DFT-based calculations of transport coefficients. As a benchmark, the first virial coefficient is correctly described with this approach. The value of the second virial coefficient is discussed, and questions about its value according to DFT-MD simulations are addressed.