NEW RESULTS IN THEORY OF CLASSICAL ELECTRON GAS

Three new coefficients are calculated for the expansion of the potential of average force of the classical electron gas in powers of the plasma parameter ∈ and its logarithm, and it is shown that there are divergences in the coefficients of some of the higher-order terms in this expansion. The asymptotic long-range behavior of the potential of average force is found to be -c 1 ∈ exp (-c2 ξ)/ξ, with ξ the distance between two electrons in units of the Debye length, c1 = 1 + (3/8 ln 3 + 1/6) ∈ + ⋯, and c2 = 1 + (ln 3) ∈/8 + ⋯. Finally, the internal potential energy of the electron gas is calculated through order ∈3. The theoretical results agree well with the Monte Carlo computations of Brush, Sahlin, and Teller up to about ∈ = 1.