The role of inelastic collisions in plasma resistivity

Summary form only given. The influence of inelastic electron-ion interactions (collisional excitation and deexcitation, collisional ionization, and three-body recombination) on plasma resistivity, particularly in dense plasma, has been studied. In Spitzer´s theory of low-density plasma resistivity only elastic electron-ion collisions are considered. In dense, degenerate plasmas like liquid metals, Ziman´s theory, which assumes elastic electron-ion collisions, is applied. There the assumption of elastic collisions is justified by phase space limitations on the degenerate electron gas. In dense, strongly coupled, high-temperature plasmas this limitation does not exist and the role of inelastic processes should be considered. In these plasmas the ratio of the excitation and ionization energy to the thermal free electron energy is such that the role of inelastic electron-ion collisions becomes relatively important. The contribution of inelastic processes to the resistivity has been calculated, employing the average ion model to evaluate the ionic levels and transition probabilities. The significance of this contribution has been demonstrated in the case of plasma produced by ultrashort pulse (subpicosecond) lasers.