Understanding warm dense matter: from ab initio simulations to experiments

The study of matter at extreme densities, temperatures, and pressures has emerged as a highly active frontier at the interface of a variety of disciplines including physics, material science, and quantum chemistry. Such warm dense matter (WDM) naturally occurs in astrophysical objects like giant planet interiors and brown dwarfs. Moreover, it is of key relevance for technological applications such as inertial confinement fusion and material synthesis. A particular feature of WDM is the complex interplay of effects such as Coulomb coupling and quantum degeneracy rendering its rigorous theoretical description a formidable challenge. Here I present an overview of a number of recent developments that bridge the gap between state-of-the-art simulation methods and WDM experiments [1,2]. These new methodologies have already been successfully applied to inelastic x-ray scattering experiments at the European XFEL and the National Ignition Facility [3,4], and open up a variety of exciting possibilities for future research at HIBEF.

[1] T. Dornheim et al, Nature Commun. 13, 7911 (2022)
[2] T. Dornheim et al, Phys. Plasmas 30, 032705 (2023)
[3] T. Dornheim et al, arXiv:2305.15305 (submitted)
[4] M. Böhme et al, arXiv:2306.17653 (submitted)