Percolation theory in conjunction with a cylindrically symmetric Thomas-Fermi model is introduced to calculate the ionization potential lowering in hot and dense plasmas. The bound-electron level shifts due to the interaction with the nearest neighbor are calculated by means of a cylindrically symmetric model. The critical energy for which a negative-energy electron wave function overlaps a macroscopic portion of the plasma is then computed by percolation-theory methods.

• Received 10 October 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.45.3943