Theoretical investigation of plasma ion shielding effects on the atomic structure and photoionization process in semiclassical dense electron–ion plasmas

Abstract

This manuscript provides a description of a relativistic method for calculating the atomic structure and photoionization process in the semiclassical dense electron–ion plasma environment. The method uses the effective interaction pseudo-potential derived for general two interacting charged particles taking into account the quantum mechanical and screening effects to model the strongly coupled effects. The results for (bound state) energies are obtained by numerically solving the Dirac equation. The present method uses the relativistic distorted-wave approach to calculate the continuum orbitals and the ionization cross sections by photon collision. The strongly coupled semiclassical plasma effects and the plasma ion shielding effects on various properties such as ionization energies, transition rates, and photoionization cross sections are studied, focusing on the hydrogen atom as a case study. Our results are in agreement with other theoretical data. This study has important implications for the fields of atomic physics, plasma physics, astrophysics, and fusion science, and provides valuable insights into the study of various scientific phenomena.