On the Influence of the Pauli Exclusion Principle on the Transport Properties of Dense Coulomb Systems

Within a model calculation the influence of the Pauli exclusion principle on the electrical conductivity of a fully ionized and degenerate hydrogen plasma is investigated. Basing on a quantum kinetic equation solved with the relaxation time ansatz, the electron — ion contribution to the resistivity is calculated. The thermodynamical T‐matrix for electron — ion scattering processes is evaluated under special account for the Pauli blocking of the intermediate scattering states. The corresponding Bethe — Salpeter equation is solved analytically using a separable approximation of the statically screened potential. The Pauli exclusion principle has been found to give rise for a considerable enhancement of the transport cross section near the Fermi energy. Thus, degeneracy effects tend to diminish the electrical conductivity in the density — temperature region considered here.