Results on the energy-relaxation rates of dense two-temperature aluminum, carbon, and silicon plasmas close to liquid-metal conditions.

We present results for the electron-ion energy relaxation coupling constants g(ei)(T(e),T(i),kappa) for aluminum, carbon, and silicon plasmas at several electron and ion temperatures T(i), T(e) of experimental interest. The calculations use the Fermi golden rule and the Landau-Spitzer model valid at weak electron-ion coupling, as well as the coupled-mode approach suitable for strong coupling. A physically motivated simple derivation of the coupled-mode energy relaxation formula for two-component charged fluids is presented. While the commonly used weak-coupling theories predict relaxation constants relatively independent of the ion temperature, the strong-coupling theory predicts energy relaxation constants that become smaller by an order of magnitude as the ion temperature is lowered.