The Effect of Ionic Correlations on Radiative Properties in the Solar Interior and Terrestrial Experiments

Abstract

With the aim of solving the decade-old problem of solar opacity, we report substantial photoabsorption uncertainty due to the effect of ion–ion correlations. By performing detailed opacity calculations of the solar mixture, we find that taking into account the ionic structure changes the Rosseland opacity near the convection zone by ∼10%. We also report a ∼15% difference in the Rosseland opacity for iron, which was recently measured at the Sandia Z facility, where the temperature reached that prevailing in the convection zone boundary while the density was 2.5 times lower. Finally, we propose a method to measure opacities at solar temperatures and densities that have never been reached in the past via laboratory radiation flow experiments, by using plastic foams doped with permilles of dominant photon absorbers in the Sun. The method is advantageous for an experimental study of solar opacities that may lead to a resolution of the solar abundance problem.