Comment on "Novel Attractive Force between Ions in Quantum Plasmas" [Shukla, Eliasson, PRL 108, 165007 (2012), arXiv:1112.5556]

TL;DR

This paper critiques a previous prediction of ion attraction in quantum plasmas, arguing that kinetic effects overshadow the hydrodynamical model's attractive force, emphasizing the importance of kinetic analysis for charge shielding.

Contribution

It challenges prior hydrodynamical predictions by demonstrating the dominance of kinetic effects in ion attraction within quantum plasmas.

Findings

Kinetic effects produce a stronger attractive force than hydrodynamical models.

Charge shielding in quantum plasmas is primarily a kinetic phenomenon.

Previous models underestimate the role of kinetic effects.

Abstract

It is shown that the attractive force between ions in a degenerate quantum plasma, recently predicted by Shukla and Eliasson [Shukla, Eliasson, PRL 108, 165007 (2012), arXiv:1112.5556] using a generalized quantum hydrodynamical model, is dwarfed by the attractive force due to kinetic effects that cannot be accounted for in the previous model. This suggests that the problem of charge shielding in a degenerate quantum plasma should necessarily be a kinetic one, providing the dominant part of the attractive force.