Hysteresis in the Mott Transition between Plasma and Insulating Gas

TL;DR

This paper investigates hysteresis phenomena in the phase transition between neutral plasma and insulating gas, highlighting the role of screening length and bistability in various physical systems.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of hysteresis in plasma-insulating gas transitions and maps bistability regions in density-temperature phase space for different systems.

Findings

Hysteresis occurs in plasma-insulating gas transitions.

Bistability regions depend on screening length.

Numerical results identify conditions for bistability in specific systems.

Abstract

We show that hysteresis can occur in the transition between a neutral plasma and the insulating gas consisting of neutral pairs bound by Coulomb attraction. Since the transition depends sensitively on the screening length in the plasma, regions of bistability occur in density--temperature phase space. We present numerical results which indicate where these regions occur for systems such as spin-polarized hydrogen, positronium gas, and excitons in a semiconductor.