We present a 5-phase equation of state for elemental carbon which addresses a wide range of density and temperature conditions: 3g/cc < ρ < 20g/cc, 0 K < T < ∞. The phases considered are diamond, BC8, simple cubic, simple hexagonal, and the liquid/plasma state. The solid phase free energies are constrained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Vibrational contributions to the free energy of each solid phase are treated within the quasiharmonic framework. The liquid free energy model is constrained by fitting to a combination of DFT molecular dynamics performed over the range 10 000 K < T < 100 000 K, and path integral quantum Monte Carlo calculations for T > 100 000 K (both for ρ between 3 and 12 g/cc, with select higher-ρ DFT calculations as well). The liquid free energy model includes an atom-in-jellium approach to account for the effects of ionization due to temperature and pressure in the plasma state, and an ion-thermal model which includes the approach to the ideal gas limit. The precise manner in which the ideal gas limit is reached is greatly constrained by both the highest-temperature DFT data and the path integral data, forcing us to discard an ion-thermal model we had used previously in favor of a new one. Predictions are made for the principal Hugoniot and the room-temperature isotherm, and comparisons are made to recent experimental results.

We develop an all-electron path integral Monte Carlo method with free-particle nodes for warm dense matter and apply it to water and carbon plasmas. We thereby extend path integral Monte Carlo studies beyond hydrogen and helium to elements with core electrons. Path integral Monte Carlo results for pressures, internal energies, and pair-correlation functions compare well with density functional theory molecular dynamics calculations at temperatures of (2.5-7.5)×10(5) K, and both methods together form a coherent equation of state over a density-temperature range of 3-12 g/cm(3) and 10(4)-10(9) K.

We extend the applicability range of fermionic path integral Monte Carlo simulations to heavier elements and lower temperatures by introducing various localized nodal surfaces. Hartree-Fock nodes yield the most accurate prediction for pressure and internal energy that we combine with the results from density functional molecular dynamics simulations to obtain a consistent equation of state for hot, dense silicon under plasma conditions and in the regime of warm dense matter (2.3−18.6 g cm −3 , 5.0 × 10 5 − 1.3 × 10 8 K). The shock Hugoniot curve is derived and the structure of the fluid is characterized with various pair correlation functions.