Galvanomagnetic and Thermomagnetic Properties of a Nonideal Xenon Plasma at Megabar Pressures in Megagauss Magnetic Fields

Abstract

A method has been developed for the calculation of tensors of the electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity of a nonideal plasma in a magnetic field within a unified approach where the kinetic coefficients are calculated together with the equation of state of the nonideal plasma within a quasichemical model. The calculations have shown that the Seebeck coefficient in xenon reaches 3 mV/K, which is slightly smaller than that in hydrogen or deuterium, and the figure of merit appears to be insignificantly higher in xenon. Consequently, the transition from hydrogen (deuterium) to xenon does not result in the expected noticeable improvement of thermoelectric properties. This is due to lower values of the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, as well as to a fast increase in the thermal conductivity of neutral xenon with an increase in its density. It has been shown for the first time that there is a density range where all components of the Seebeck tensor in xenon change their sign because of the Ramsauer minimum in the cross section for scattering of electrons on neutral atoms in the region of comparable values of cyclotron and transport frequencies of electrons.