  A general formalism for the treatment of density fluctuations in Coulomb
plasmas is presented and applied to the treatment of temperature relaxation in
multi-component quantum plasmas when the separate components (electrons and
ions) relax to LTE much faster than the mutual equilibration rate. The
underlying theory is based upon the Random Phase Approximation with static
local field corrections (LFCs) to account for short-range correlations between
the particles. A general formula for the electron-ion equilibration rate,
similar to the one given by Daligault and Dimonte, is derived. However a
different approach is advocated for the determination of the LFCs , one that
allows a detailed quantal treatment of the electrons and with allowance for the
possible presence of bound states. The theory presented here accommodates any
number of plasma components and provides a basis for an approximate
self-consistent solution of the general Coulomb many-body problem that
incorporates static short-range correlations into the RPA. This has
implications for improved modelling of the static and low frequency transport
and equation-of-state properties of dense plasma. Limitations of the model are
also discussed.

Plasma Physics