Correlation and quantum effects on collisional absorption in dense laser-produced plasmas

Starting from quantum kinetic theory, collisional absorption of laser radiation is investigated for dense plasmas. The electrical current and the energy balance equations are formulated within the framework of nonequilibrium Green's function methods. Quantum statistical expressions are derived for plasmas in which the coupling between electrons and ions is weak due to the influence of the strong high-frequency laser field, however, the electron and the ion components may be strongly coupled within their respective subsystems. Consequently, the expressions for, e.g., the electrical current and the cycle-averaged energy absorption rate contain the dynamical structure factors and the dielectric function of the strongly correlated electron and ion subsystems. The expressions are valid for arbitrary field strength assuming the nonrelativistic case.