Stopping of ions and local electron densities at strong coupling

We employ molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulations to investigate ions in electron plasmas at strong coupling. We observed in this regime a stopping power of highly charged ions at low velocities which scales with the charge like Z^1.5. This clearly deviates from the Z² ln(const./Z) scaling of the conventional weak coupling theories and is connected with a strongly enhanced local density of electrons around the ions which is caused by the trapping of electrons in high Rydberg states due to multi-particle collisions occurring at strong coupling. For the parameters corresponding to the less strongly coupled situation in an electron cooler we find a moderate enhancement of the local electron density created under the influence of the external magnetic field. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.