Ion stopping force from Bohmian mechanics

We employed Bohmian mechanics to solve the equations of motion for a charged particle traveling in a free electron gas. Quantum effects are accounted for by including the Bohm quantum-mechanical potential Q, which depends on the electronic density, in the typical classical description. Our approach provides a novel and computationally efficient alternative to traditional quantum calculations for determining the electronic stopping force of charged particles in matter. We use this framework to investigate the stopping of fast protons in the free electron gas (FEG).

To this end, we have solved classical equations of motion for a quantum-mechanical potential V_tot, which in turn depends on the quantum-mechanical Bohm potential Q. The latter is evaluated from the solid's electron density. This approach offers a computationally efficient alternative to traditional quantum-mechanical calculations to determine the electronic stopping force.