Monte Carlo simulations of an electron gas and a mass-symmetrical plasma : Energies and pair-distribution functions

Abstract
The one-cornponent plasma (OCP), an electron gas on a positive background, and a mass-symmetrical two-component plasma (TCP), an electron-positron plasma, is investigated using a quasi-classical approach. Quantum effects such as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the Pauli exclusion principle are incorporated into our model by diierent types of effective potentials. In case of the OCP the symmetry effects are of special interest whereas in case of TCP the Heisenberg effects play the signifiant role. The method of Slater sums is used to obtain effective potentials. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations for both OCP and TCP were carried out to calculate the Coulombic energy, the effective energy, and the pair-distribution functions.