Oscillatory screening and quantum interference effects on electron collisions in quantum plasmas

Abstract

The oscillatory screening and collision-induced quantum interference effects on electron-electron collisions are investigated in dense quantum plasmas. The modified Debye-Huckel potential with the total spin states of the system is considered to obtain the differential electron-electron scattering cross section in quantum plasmas. It is shown that the electron-electron scattering cross section decreases with an increase of the quantum wave number. In addition, the minimum position of the cross section has been appeared with increasing the collision energy at the scattering angle theta(L) = pi/4. It is also found that the oscillatory screening effects strongly suppress the cross section near theta(L) = pi/4. In addition, it is found that the quantum interference effects suppress the cross section, especially, for the forward and backward scattering cases. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.