Coupling Strength in Coulomb and Yukawa One-Component Plasmas

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to define and measure the coupling strength in Coulomb and Yukawa one-component plasmas using the radial pair distribution function, aiding experimental and theoretical analysis.

Contribution

It proposes a consistent approach to determine the effective coupling parameter based on the structural features of the radial pair distribution function in Coulomb and Yukawa plasmas.

Findings

Derived a simple expression for the effective coupling parameter.

Analyzed the dependence of RPDF features on coupling and screening parameters.

Validated the approach through molecular dynamics simulations.

Abstract

In a non-ideal classical Coulomb one-component plasma (OCP) all thermodynamic properties are known to depend only on a single parameter -- the coupling parameter $\Gamma$. In contrast, if the pair interaction is screened by background charges (Yukawa OCP) the thermodynamic state depends, in addition, on the range of the interaction via the screening parameter $\kappa$. How to determine in this case an effective coupling parameter has been a matter of intensive debate. Here we propose a consistent approach for defining and measuring the coupling strength in Coulomb and Yukawa OCPs based on a fundamental structural quantity, the radial pair distribution function (RPDF). The RPDF is often accessible in experiments by direct observation or indirectly through the static structure factor. Alternatively, it is directly computed in theoretical models or simulations. Our approach is based on the observation that the build-up of correlation from a weakly coupled system proceeds in two steps: First, a monotonically increasing volume around each particle becomes devoid of other particles (correlation hole), and second (upon further increase of the coupling), a shell structure emerges around each particle giving rise to growing peaks of the RPDF. Using molecular dynamics simulation, we present a systematic study for the dependence of these features of the RPDF on $\Gamma$ and $\kappa$ and derive a simple expression for the effective coupling parameter.