Multiple scattering of swift hydrogen isotopes, muons, and positrons in plasmas

Abstract

A charged particle moving through a plasma suffers the effects of collisions with the plasma particles; this affects the angular distribution by a process known as multiple scattering. Here we perform a very complete study of the multiple scattering of charged particles in different types of plasmas. First, we reformulate the theory of multiple scattering for plasma media including the statistical effects of thermal equilibrium. To obtain a comprehensive extension of previous works we apply a quantum approach to describe the interaction of charged particles with plasmas, based on the quantum-dielectric-plasma model (QDPM), which includes a full description of the statistical effects on energy exchange processes together with a quantum treatment of electron excitations. We analyze the role of statistical fluctuations produced by the temperature and the recoil effects inthe multiple scattering for different particles and plasma conditions. Finally, we incorporate the dominant effect of scattering by the plasma ions through a semiclassical dielectric function that combines a quantum description of plasma electrons with a classical dielectric model for plasma ions. We analyze the partial contributions and total results on the multiple scattering angle for protons, muons, and positrons in various plasma media, including heated solids; the stellar type of plasmas; and the cases protons, deuterons, and tritium ions in Tokamak plasmas.