Pair correlation function in a dense plasma and pycnonuclear reactions in stars

The short-range behavior of the pair correlation function in a dense onecomponent plasma (jellium) is investigated. As an intermediate step, the short-range behavior of the classical pair correlation function is obtained. Actually, although the temperature and the density are assumed to be such that the thermodynamic properties are almost classical, quantum mechanics (tunnel effect) always dominates the pair correlation function at short distances. The quantum pair correlation function is calculated by treating the many-body quantum effects by a perturbation theory, and by using a semiclassical approximation based on path integrals. The results are applied to the computation of the nuclear reaction rate in dense stellar matter (pycnonuclear reactions).Laboratoire associé au Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.