Quantum Kinetic Theory for Laser Plasmas. Dynamical Screening in Strong Fields

TL;DR

This paper develops a quantum kinetic theory for dense, correlated plasmas in strong, time-dependent electromagnetic fields, incorporating dynamical screening and many-body effects to better understand plasma behavior under intense laser and x-ray interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a gauge-invariant nonequilibrium Green's functions approach that generalizes previous models to include full dynamical screening in quantum plasmas under strong fields.

Findings

Modified plasma screening due to electromagnetic fields

Analysis of longitudinal field fluctuations in strong fields

Self-consistent treatment of dynamical screening in quantum plasmas

Abstract

A quantum kinetic theory for correlated charged-particle systems in strong time-dependent electromagnetic fields is developed. Our approach is based on a systematic gauge-invariant nonequilibrium Green's functions formulation. Extending our previous analysis (Kremp et al., Phys. Rev. E vol. 60, p. 4725 (1999) we concentrate on the selfconsistent treatment of dynamical screening and electromagnetic fields which is applicable to arbitrary nonequilibrium situations. The resulting kinetic equation generalizes previous results to quantum plasmas with full dynamical screening and includes many-body effects. It is, in particular, applicable to the interaction of dense plasmas with strong electromagnetic fields, including laser fields and x-rays. Furthermore, results for the modification of the plasma screening and the longitudinal field fluctuations due to the electromagnetic field are presented.