Thomson scattering in the average-atom approximation

Abstract

The average-atom model is applied to study Thomson scattering of x-rays from warm-dense matter with emphasis on scattering by bound electrons. Parameters needed to evaluate the dynamic structure function (chemical potential, average ionic charge, free electron density, bound and continuum wave-functions and occupation numbers) are obtained from the average-atom model. The resulting analysis provides a relatively simple diagnostic for use in connection with x-ray scattering measurements. Applications are given to dense hydrogen, beryllium, aluminum and titanium plasmas. In the case of titanium, bound states are predicted to modify the spectrum significantly.