Electron Dynamics at a Positive Ion

Submitted to Phys. Rev. EInternational audienceThe dynamics of electrons in the presence of a positive ion is considered for conditions of weak electron-electron couping but strong electron-ion coupling. The equilibrium electron density and electric field time correlation functions are evaluated for semi-classical conditions using a classical statistical mechanics with a regularized electron-ion interaction for MD simulation. The theoretical analysis for the equilibrium state is obtained from the corresponding nonlinear Vlasov equation. Time correlation functions for the electrons are determined from the linearized Vlasov equation. The resulting electron dynamics is described in terms of a distribution of single electron-ion trajectories screened by an inhomogeneous electron gas dielectric function. The results are applied to calculation of the autocorrelation function for the electron electric field at the ion for $ 0\leq Z\leq 40$, including conditions of strong electron-ion coupling. The electron stopping power and self-diffusion coefficient are determined from these results, and all properties calculated are compared with those obtained from semi-classical molecular dynamics simulation. The agreement with semi-classical MD simulation is found to be reasonable. The theoretical description provides an instructive interpretation for the strong electron-ion results