Logarithmic Finite-Size Correction in Non-neutral Two-Component Plasma on Sphere

TL;DR

This paper derives the finite-size correction to the grand potential of a two-component Coulomb plasma on a sphere, revealing a universal logarithmic term influenced by excess charge and independent of domain geometry.

Contribution

It provides a general formula for the logarithmic finite-size correction in a two-component plasma on a sphere, extending previous results to arbitrary charge valencies and excess charges.

Findings

The grand potential's large-radius expansion includes a universal logarithmic term with a coefficient independent of domain shape.

The excess charge contributes a non-universal term proportional to the square of the charge in the correction.

The logarithmic correction's prefactor is universal and does not depend on the plasma composition or domain geometry.

Abstract

We consider a general two-component plasma of classical pointlike charges $+e$ ($e$ is say the elementary charge) and $-Z e$ (valency $Z=1,2,\ldots$), living on the surface of a sphere of radius $R$. The system is in thermal equilibrium at the inverse temperature $\beta$, in the stability region against collapse of oppositely charged particle pairs $\beta e^2 < 2/Z$. We study the effect of the system excess charge $Q e$ on the finite-size expansion of the (dimensionless) grand potential $\beta\Omega$. By combining the stereographic projection of the sphere onto an infinite plane, the linear response theory and the planar results for the second moments of the species density correlation functions we show that for any $\beta e^2 < 2/Z$ the large-$R$ expansion of the grand potential is of the form $\beta\Omega \sim A_V R^2 + [\chi/6 - \beta (Qe)^2/2] \ln R$, where $A_V$ is the non-universal coefficient of the volume (bulk) part and the Euler number of the sphere $\chi=2$. The same formula, containing also a non-universal surface term proportional to $R$, was obtained previously for the disc domain ($\chi=1$), in the case of the symmetric $(Z=1)$ two-component plasma at the collapse point $\beta e^2=2$ and the jellium model $(Z\to 0)$ of identical $e$-charges in a fixed neutralizing background charge density at any coupling $\beta e^2$ being an even integer. Our result thus indicates that the prefactor to the logarithmic finite-size expansion does not depend on the composition of the Coulomb fluid and its non-universal part $-\beta (Qe)^2/2$ is independent of the geometry of the confining domain.