LAUSR

The effects of dense semi-classical plasma (DSCP) on the ground state of the negative ion of hydrogen (H−) and on the dynamics of electron–hydrogen scattering have been investigated. DSCP is described by an effective potential which takes care of the collective effects of the plasma at large distances as well as the quantum mechanical effects of diffraction at small distances. An elaborative wave function is employed in the Rayleigh–Ritz variational method to compute the ground state energy of H− for various values of the plasma parameters. In particular, critical values of the plasma parameters are calculated accurately to make a detailed study on the stability of the ion embedded in DSCP. Furthermore, parameters related to the ground state of H− and H are used in the effective range theory to study the effects of DSCP on the dynamics of low-energy e − H(1s) scattering. Special emphasis is given to investigate the phenomenon of zero-energy resonances by computing the singlet scattering length near the critical values of the plasma parameters.