Relation between the super-transition-array method in opacity calculations and the Hartree-Fock approximation at nonzero temperature

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Abstract
We consider the photoabsorption cross section of dense plasmas in thermodynamic equilibrium. We transform the exact expression of this cross section into a form suitable for the calculation of moments with respect to frequency. We show that the super-transition-array (STA) method, which is successfully applied in opacity calculations, is consistent with the thermal Hartree-Fock approximation. The Hartree-Fock theory justifies the use of the noninteracting partition function inside each superconfiguration, which is an important approximation in the STA method.