Self-consistent Overhauser model for the pair distribution function of an electron gas at finite temperature

TL;DR

This paper develops a self-consistent model to compute the pair distribution function of an electron gas at finite temperature, capturing many-body effects and analyzing temperature-induced changes in short-range order.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent Overhauser model using an effective potential and Hartree approximation for finite-temperature electron gases in 2D and 3D.

Findings

Numerical results for g(r) in intermediate coupling regimes.

Observation of temperature effects on short-range order.

Model captures many-body effects at finite temperature.

Abstract

We present calculations of the spin-averaged pair distribution function $g(r)$ in a homogeneous gas of electrons moving in dimensionality D=3 or D=2 at finite temperature. The model involves the solution of a two-electron scattering problem via an effective potential which embodies many-body effects through a self-consistent Hartree approximation, leading to two-body wave functions to be averaged over a temperature-dependent distribution of relative momentum for electron pairs. We report illustrative numerical results for $g(r)$ in an intermediate-coupling regime and interpret them in terms of changes of short-range order with increasing temperature.