Results on the energy-relaxation rates of dense two-temperature aluminum, carbon, and silicon plasmas close to liquid-metal conditions

We present results for the electron-ion energy relaxation coupling constants g(ei)(T-e, T-i, kappa) for aluminum, carbon, and silicon plasmas at several electron and ion temperatures T-i, T-e of experimental interest. The calculations use the Fermi golden rule and the Landau-Spitzer model valid at weak electron-ion coupling, as well as the coupled-mode approach suitable for strong coupling. A physically motivated simple derivation of the coupled-mode energy relaxation formula for two-component charged fluids is presented. While the commonly used weak-coupling theories predict relaxation constants relatively independent of the ion temperature, the strong-coupling theory predicts energy relaxation constants that become smaller by an order of magnitude as the ion temperature is lowered.