Influence of quantum diffraction and shielding on electron-ion collision in two-component semiclassical plasmas

The influence of quantum diffraction and shielding on the electron-ion collision process is investigated in two-component semiclassical plasmas. The eikonal method and micropotential taking into account the quantum diffraction and shielding are used to obtain the eikonal scattering phase shift and the eikonal collision cross section as functions of the collision energy, density parameter, Debye length, electron de Broglie wavelength, and the impact parameter. The result shows that the quantum diffraction and shielding effects suppress the eikonal scattering phase shift as well as the differential eikonal collision cross section, especially, in small-impact parameter regions. It is also shown that the quantum shielding effect on the eikonal collision cross section is more important in low-collision energies. In addition, it is found that the eikonal collision cross section increases with an increase in the density parameter. The variations of the eikonal cross section due to the quantum diffraction and shielding effects are also discussed.This paper is dedicated to late Professor P. K. Shukla in memory of exciting and stimulating collaborations on physical processes in various plasmas. One of the authors (Y.-D.J.) gratefully acknowledges Professor W. Roberge for useful discussions and warm hospitality while visiting the Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). This research was initiated while one of the authors (Y.-D.J.) was affiliated with RPI as a visiting professor. This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Grant No. 2012-001493)