- Accepted Paper
Plasma-modified inelastic electron scattering for Mo nuclear isomer depletion in warm dense matter
Phys. Rev. C - Accepted 7 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rds9-9p7r
Phys. Rev. C - Accepted 7 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rds9-9p7r
Nuclear excitation by inelastic electron scattering (NEIES) provides an electron-driven pathway for triggering nuclear-isomer depletion. In this work, we theoretically investigate the NEIES-induced depletion of $^{93\rm{m}}\mathrm{Mo}$ through its 4.85-keV triggering transition, with emphasis on the influence of warm dense plasma and the validity of the isolated-atom approximation. The excitation cross sections are calculated within the Dirac distorted-wave Born approximation, using continuum electron states obtained from isolated atomic potentials and plasma-modified central potentials constructed with self-consistent hypernetted-chain (HNC) calculations. The plasma-modified potential incorporates the effects of free-electron screening and ion correlations. We find that the resulting plasma correction to the total NEIES cross section remains at the percent level under the conditions considered, with the largest correction found for hydrogen-like ions and a stronger dependence on electron density than on temperature. Near the excitation threshold, small oscillatory corrections appear and are traced to the sensitivity of the outgoing low-energy electron wave function to the plasma-modified potential. These results quantify the environmental correction to NEIES in warm dense matter and support the validity of the isolated-atom approximation for $^{93\rm{m}}\mathrm{Mo}$ isomer depletion under the warm dense plasma conditions considered here.
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