Excess energy of strongly coupled one-component plasma from variational approach

TL;DR

This paper uses a variational approach with different entropy models to accurately calculate the excess energy of a strongly coupled one-component plasma, confirming the effectiveness of the Percus-Yevick virial entropy and Rosenfeld-Tarazons scaling.

Contribution

It introduces a variational method combined with specific entropy models to improve excess energy calculations for strongly coupled plasmas.

Findings

Percus-Yevick virial entropy yields the most accurate excess energy estimates.

Rosenfeld-Tarazons scaling aligns well with Monte Carlo results.

The approach enhances understanding of plasma thermodynamics.

Abstract

The excess energy of the one-component plasma fluid is calculated using the variational approach combined with different variants of the excess entropy of the hard-sphere fluid, which is used as a reference system. Our comparison with recent Monte Carlo results for the excess energy of the one-component plasma identifies the Percus-Yevick virial entropy as the most accurate entropy to be used in the variational calculation of this kind. The reason for this and potential developments of the present analysis are briefly discussed. We demonstrate that the original Rosenfeld-Tarazons scaling of the thermal component of the excess energy of the one-component plasma fluid is in excellent agreement with recent Monte Carlo results.