Role of screening in Coulomb excitation of nuclei by electrons in hot plasma

The inelastic scattering of free electrons in hot plasma by nuclei is considered, taking into account the screening of the nuclear Coulomb field by surrounding electrons. The Coulomb excitation cross-section of the nucleus is calculated in distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA). Numerical calculations for ²⁰¹Hg show that the electron screening suppresses the nuclear excitation at low electron energies. Temperature dependence of the Coulomb excitation rate of ²⁰¹Hg in the equilibrium plasma is analyzed as well. (authors)