INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING JOURNAL OF PHYSICS A: MATHEMATICAL AND GENERAL J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 36 (2003) 5921–5930 PII: S0305-4470(03)55274-X Theory and simulation of strong correlations in quantum Coulomb systems M Bonitz 1 , D Semkat 1 , A Filinov 1 , V Golubnychyi 1 , D Kremp 1 , D O Gericke 2 , M S Murillo 2 , V Filinov 3 , V Fortov 3 , W Hoyer 4 and S W Koch 4 1 Fachbereich Physik, Universit¨ at Rostock, D-18051 Rostock, Germany 2 Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA 3 Institute for High Energy Density, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskay 13/19, Moscow 127412, Russia 4 Fachbereich Physik und Zentrum f¨ ur Materialwissenschaften, Philipps-Universit¨ at Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany E-mail: michael.bonitz@physik.uni-rostock.de Received 22 October 2002 Published 22 May 2003 Online at stacks.iop.org/JPhysA/36/5921 Abstract Strong correlations in quantum Coulomb systems (QCS) are attracting increasing interest in many fields ranging from dense plasmas and semiconductors to metal clusters and ultracold trapped ions. Examples are bound states in dense plasmas (atoms, molecules, clusters) and semiconductors (excitons, trions, biexcitons) or Coulomb crystals. We present first-principle simulation results of these systems including path integral Monte Carlo simulations of the equilibrium behaviour of dense hydrogen and electron– hole plasmas and molecular dynamics and quantum kinetic theory simulations of the nonequilibrium properties of QCS. Finally, we critically assess potential and limitations of the various methods in their application to Coulomb systems. PACS numbers: 05.30.−d, 52.65.−y (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version) 1. Introduction The family of Coulomb systems, i.e. many-body systems which are dominated by Coulomb interaction, has grown beyond conventional plasmas in space or laboratory for many years, for an overview, see e.g. [1–3]. They also include electron–hole plasmas in semiconductors, the electron gas in metals, charged particles confined in various traps or storage rings, charged complex or dust particles and also small few-particle clusters in mesoscopic quantum dots. Despite their different nature, all Coulomb systems have similar fundamental properties which 0305-4470/03/225921+10$30.00 © 2003 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK 5921