The Electrical and Thermal Conductivities of Highly Non ideal Alkali Metal Plasmas

In this chapter two main problems of nonideal plasma physics are considered: the problem of the Coulomb logarithm and the transition from thermal to pressure ionization. Clues to treat these problems have been obtained from experiments with impulse capillary isobaric discharge (ICID) in alkali metal (Li, Na, K, Cs) vapours yielding information about electrical (σ) and radiative thermal (λ) conductivities in the range of non-ideality parameter 0.1 ≦ γ ≦ 2 (γ = e 2 n e 1/3 /k B T). The Coulomb electrical conductivity σ c is shown to be submitted to a double quantum effect, leading generally to an nonmonotonous dependence of the nondimensional electrical conductivity σ c * = σ c e 2 m e 1/2 k B T -3/2 on temperature. Low temperature data for σ(T, P) and λ(T, P) reveal the character of the metal-dielectric transition in a dense plasma.