We present an approach that can resolve the controversy with respect to the role of electron-electron collisions in calculating the dynamic conductivity of dense plasmas. In particular, the dc conductivity is analyzed in the low-density, nondegenerate limit where the Spitzer theory is valid and electron-electron collisions lead to the well-known reduction in comparison to the result considering only electron-ion collisions (Lorentz model). With increasing degeneracy, the contribution of electron-electron collisions to the dc conductivity is decreasing and can be neglected for the liquid metal domain where the Ziman theory is applicable. We give expressions for the effect of electron-electron collisions in calculating the conductivity in the warm dense matter region, i.e., for strongly coupled Coulomb systems at arbitrary degeneracy.

• Received 16 January 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.91.043105