Radiation transport and density effects in non-equilibrium plasmas

We describe a model for self-consistent computations of ionic level populations and the radiation field in transient non-equilibrium plasmas. In this model, the plasma density effects are described using the effective-statistical-weights (ESW) formalism based on the statistics of the microscopic environment of individual ions. In comparison to earlier work, the ESW formalism is expanded to a self-consistent treatment of the radiative transfer. For non-Maxwellian plasmas, the atomic-kinetics and radiative transfer computations may be performed for an arbitrary distribution of the free electrons. A plasma is presented by a finite number of cells, each with uniform thermodynamic parameters. The radiation field in each cell is computed by accounting for the radiation of entire plasma and of external sources. To demonstrate the predictions of the ESW approach and their difference from those of the traditional approach we apply the model to high-density plasmas. Based on hydrodynamic simulations of a laser-matter interaction, we use the model to analyze spectral line shapes, where the effects caused by the spatial dependence of the plasma flow velocity are demonstrated. In single-cell simulations, for acceleration of the computations, the model utilizes recently derived formula for the cell volume–average and direction–average specific intensity of radiation.