Günter Kelbg, the Kelbg potential and its impact on quantum plasma theory

Abstract

Günter Kelbg did remarkable early work in the field of quantum statistical physics, in particular for dense quantum plasmas. In 2022 we celebrated his 100th birthday. On this occasion, we give a brief overview of his main scientific achievements in the field of quantum plasmas, complemented by some biographical background of his research and teaching environment at Rostock University. Kelbg's main achievement is the derivation of a regularized quantum pair potential. We demonstrate that it is still of high relevance for molecular dynamics and quantum Monte Carlo simulations of dense plasmas.