High-density phenomena in hydrogen plasma

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Abstract
A novel path-integral representation of the many-particle density operator is presented which makes direct Fermionic path-integral Monte Carlo simulations feasible over a wide range of parameters. The method is applied to compute the pressure, energy, and pair distribution functions of a hydrogen plasma in the region of strong coupling and strong degeneracy. Our numerical results allow one to analyze the atom and molecule formation and breakup and predict, at high density, proton ordering and pairing of electrons.