Road of warm dense noble metals to the plasma state: Ab initio theory of the ultrafast structural dynamics in warm dense matter

Intense ultrashort extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses can be used to create warm dense matter in the laboratory, which then develops to a plasma state. So far, however, it is unknown, whether this transition occurs via heat transfer from hot electrons to cold atoms or nonthermally due to a lattice instability. Here we computed the response of the phonon spectra of copper and silver to the presence of XUV-excited core holes and core holes together with very hot electrons. We found that the average interatomic bonds become stronger in the warm dense state. We discuss why these findings support the above-mentioned heat transfer scenario.