Calculation of a deuterium double shock Hugoniot from ab initio simulations -: art. no. 275502

We calculate the equation of state of dense deuterium with two ab initio simulation techniques, path integral Monte Carlo and density functional theory molecular dynamics, in the density range of 0.67 less than or equal to rho less than or equal to 1.60 g cm(-3). We derive the double shock Hugoniot and compare with the recent laser-driven double shock wave experiments by Mostovych et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3870 (2000)]. We find excellent agreement between the two types of microscopic simulations, but a significant discrepancy with the laser-driven shock measurements.