A variational average atom approach to closing the quantum Ornstein–Zernike relations

A summary of a variational average atom model which is used to close the quantum Ornstein–Zernike relations is presented. The first numerical results are presented from a code developed to solve these equations with two simplifying assumptions, described in the text. The inputs are the nuclear charge of the plasma species, the average material density and the temperature. Results generated include the spatially dependent electronic and nuclear densities, which are related to the electron-nucleus and nucleus–nucleus pair distribution functions. These in turn are simply related to the static structure factors. Numerical results presented are in the form of average ionization and nucleus–nucleus pair distribution functions. Average ionizations for carbon are compared to experiment and other models, showing good agreement.