Quantum-mechanical effects on electron-electron scattering in dense high-temperature plasmas

Quantum-mechanical effects on electron-electron scattering cross sections are investigated in dense high-temperature plasmas. An effective pseudopotential model taking into account both quantum-mechanical effects and plasma screening effects is applied to describe electron-electron interactions in dense high-temperature plasmas. The Born approximation and the total spin states are considered to obtain high-energy electron-electron scattering cross sections. The results show that the differential scattering cross sections are significantly reduced with increasing the thermal de Broglie wavelength. It is also found that the quantum-mechanical effects are especially important at the scattering angle theta (lab)=pi /4. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.