An Effective Potential Theory for Transport Coefficients Across Coupling Regimes

A plasma transport theory that spans weak to strong coupling is developed from a binary collision picture, but where the interaction potential is taken to be an effective potential that includes correlation effects and screening self-consistently. This physically motivated approach provides a practical model for evaluating transport coefficients across coupling regimes. The theory is shown to compare well with classical molecular dynamics simulations of temperature relaxation in electron-ion plasmas, as well as simulations and experiments of self-diffusion in one component plasmas. The approach is versatile and can be applied to other transport coefficients as well.