Electron-Electron Bremsstrahlung in a Hot Plasma

Using the differential cross section for electron-electron (e-e) bremsstrahlung exact to lowest-order perturbation theory the bremsstrahlung spectra and the total rate of energy loss of a hot electron gas are calculated. The results are compared to the nonrelativistic and extreme-relativistic approximations available and to previous work. The e-e contribution to the bremsstrahlung emis-sion of a hydrogenic plasma is found to be not negligible at temperatures above ≈ 108 K, especially in the short-wavelength part of the spectrum.