Bremsstrahlung of degenerate plasma

Conclusions The effect of electron degeneracy on the bremsstrahlung spectrum and total intensity is contained in the functionsQ(A, y) and(A). From the calculations one may deduce that the electron degeneracy plays a significant role for plasmas withA > 1,b1, respectively. From the definition ofb the respective density and temperature ranges can easily be deduced. At any degree of degeneracy (anyb) the main contribution to the bremsstrahlung intensity comes from the low-frequency region,y1. The high frequency contribution (y1) is relatively small; nevertheless in that region the influence of degeneracy is the most significant. The spectral ratioQ(A, y) differs significantly from unity (atA>1) just in the high frequency spectral region.If the electrons are treated as a Boltzmann gas the total radiation intensity has the formI_o =an_in_eT^1/2, wherea is a numerical factor. The application of the exact Sommerfeld theory of the bremsstrahlung leads to a more complicated temperature dependence (see [3]). The inclusion of the degeneracy leads to an additional dependence on both electron density and temperature through the correction factor(A) =f(n_eT^–3/2).