Two-electron photoionization processes in He@C60 using the R-matrix with pseudostates and time-dependent close-coupling methods

The electron-impact ionization cross sections of , and are calculated using both time-independent and time-dependent close-coupling methods. The time-independent methods are R-matrix and convergent close-coupling solutions based on a total wavefunction constructed using antisymmetrized products of Laguerre pseudo-orbitals and physical bound orbitals. The time-dependent method is based on the propagation of wavepackets constructed using excited-state orbitals calculated in a core pseudo-potential. The results of all three methods are in good agreement for ; there is also good agreement between the R-matrix and time-dependent methods for and , and all three methods yield ionization cross sections that lie substantially above the experimental crossed-beams measurements of Crandall et al. There is better accord with the crossed-beams measurements of Peart et al for , but the theoretical results still lie 10% higher at 50 eV. Some disagreement is noted, for both and , between the convergent close-coupling results and the R-matrix and time-dependent results.

In anticipation of future experimental investigations of two-electron processes in endohedral atoms, the double photoionization and single photoionization with excitation of helium confined in the fullerenes C36, C60 and C82 have been studied using the time-dependent close-coupling method. It is found that both He@C60 and He@C82 display strong confinement resonances in the double photoionization cross section, whereas for He@C36, the confinement resonances are suppressed. For single photoionization leaving the He+ ion in its ground state, we found not only that the magnitudes of the cross sections for He@C36, He@C60 and He@C82 are similar to the case of helium but that confinement resonances are also apparent. For single photoionization with excitation to the n = 2 shell, the endofullerene cross sections showed a reduction as compared to bare He atoms, while for photoionization with excitation to the n = 3 shell, the cross sections for the endofullerenes are enhanced, with a particularly strong enhancement evident for He@C36.

Double- and triple-differential cross sections are presented for the electron-impact ionization of ground-state hydrogen at incident electron energies of 15.6 and $17.6\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$. The time-dependent close-coupling method is used to calculate the differential ionization cross sections, and comparisons are made with previous theoretical calculations and with experimental measurements. Excellent agreement is obtained between our calculations and previous work.

Based on the time-dependent close-coupling method, energy and angular differential probabilities for various ionization processes of He atoms subjected to intense attosecond soft-x-ray pulses with a photon energy of 91.6 eV and a peak intensity of 10{sup 15} W/cm{sup 2} are calculated to explore their dependence on the duration and the chirp of the pulse. It is found that the single and the double electron energy distributions for two-photon double ionization are rather sensitive to chirps. That is, both the magnitudes and locations of the sequential peaks in the single electron energy distributions vary strongly with chirps and the two-electron energy distributions being broadened and stretched along the equal energy sharing direction as opposed to the usual total excess energy direction for the case of zero chirp. In addition, our calculation also reveals an unexpected structure formed between the two sequential peaks. In order to better understand the chirp effects on both independent-electron and correlated electron emissions and their relations to the origin of the structure, we analyzed the corresponding probability differential in energy and angle.

We review the development of the time-dependent close-coupling method to study atomic and molecular few body dynamics. Applications include electron and photon collisions with atoms, molecules, and their ions.

Electron-impact ionization cross sections for argon are calculated using both non-perturbative R-matrix with pseudo-states (RMPS) and perturbative distorted-wave methods. At twice the ionization potential, the 3p6 1S ground-term cross section from a distorted-wave calculation is found to be a factor of 4 above crossed-beams experimental measurements, while with the inclusion of term-dependent continuum effects in the distorted-wave method, the perturbative cross section still remains almost a factor of 2 above experiment. In the case of ionization from the metastable 3p54s 3P term, the distorted-wave ionization cross section is also higher than the experimental cross section. On the other hand, the ground-term cross section determined from a non-perturbative RMPS calculation that includes 27 LS spectroscopic terms and another 282 LS pseudo-state terms to represent the high Rydberg states, and the target continuum is found to be in excellent agreement with experimental measurements, while the RMPS result is below the experimental cross section for ionization from the metastable term. We conclude that both continuum term dependence and interchannel coupling effects, which are included in the RMPS method, are important for ionization from the ground term, and interchannel coupling is also significant for ionization from the metastable term.

To test the validity of classical trajectory and perturbative quantal methods for electron-impact ionization of H-like ions from excited states, we have performed advanced close-coupling calculations of ionization from excited states in H, Li2+ and B4+ using the R-matrix with pseudo states and the time-dependent close-coupling methods. Comparisons with our classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) and distorted-wave (DW) calculations show that the CTMC method is more accurate than the DW method for H, but does not improve with n and grows substantially worse with Z, while the DW method improves with Z and grows worse with n.

A time-dependent close-coupling method is used to calculate the multiphoton double ionization of He using a combination of ultraviolet and infrared laser pulses. Total probabilities for the two photon double ionization of He using a laser pulse at 42 eV and 1014 W cm−2 are compared with those in the presence of an additional laser pulse at 1.5 eV and a variety of intensities. Momentum space wavefunction densities calculated for the multiphoton double ionization of He at 42 eV and 1014 W cm−2 are compared with those in the presence of additional laser pulse at 1.5 eV and 1012 W cm−2. Single and triple differential probabilities for the two and three photon double ionization of He using a laser pulse at 42 eV and 1014 W cm−2 are compared with those in the presence of an additional laser pulse at 1.5 eV and 1012 W cm−2.

An accurate knowledge of atomic collision processes is important for a better understanding of many astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. Collision databases which contain electron-impact excitation, ionization, and recombination cross sections and temperature dependent rate coefficients have been constructed using perturbative distorted-wave methods and non-perturbative R-matrix pseudo-states and time-dependent close-coupling methods. We present recent atomic collision results.

For the several decades, the non-baryonic dark matter has been searched in many ways and by many research teams. Non-baryonic dark matter is known as a weakly interaction and neutral particle. In the direct detection ways, it is not easy to identify a non-baryonic dark matter from other particles, such as gamma ray and neutron, due to its electric neutrality. So, the identification of neutral particle is an essential part for the direct detection method of dark matter in a cosmic ray free laboratory with a detector made of radioactive free materials. A pulse shape discrimination (PSD) method was introduced more than fifty years ago. And it has been used by various elementary particle experiments. We need a more precise PSD method to detect directly dark matter interacting rarely. We can see the primary and the secondary signals in the scintillation produced by an elastic scattering between an incident particle and a target atom. The primary signal is composed of the scintillations from an excitation process of target nuclear and an ionization process of target atom while the secondary signal is composed of scintillation from ionization process, only. The ratio of scintillations from excitation and ionization processes gives the clue to identify the neutral particles. Here, we introduce an improved way to separate the primary signal into the scintillations induced by excitation and ionization processes through the elastic scattering between a target atom and a non-baryonic dark matter. This separation of primary signal can provide a big hint to identify a non-baryonic dark matter.

We report the development of the fully relativistic convergent close-coupling method based on the solution of the Dirac equation. A complete square-integrable Dirac L-spinor basis is used to obtain a set of target states spanning the target discrete and continuous positive- and negative-energy spectra. The present implementation is for quasi-one-electron atoms whose electronic configuration corresponds to the first column of the periodic table. By way of example, we consider elastic scattering of 7 eV electrons on the ground state of cesium, where the full set of spin asymmetries (A1, A2, Ann) has been measured. Excellent agreement with experiment is found.

The processes of single-electron charge exchange, excitation, and ionization during proton impact on H(2l) are investigated. We employ two different theoretical methods that are suitable for different collision energy regions: the full quantum-mechanical molecular orbital close-coupling method for energies from 0.001 to 1 keV u−1 and the two-center atomic orbital close-coupling (TC-AOCC) method for energies between 0.3 and 100 keV u−1. For charge exchange and excitation processes, the total and nl-resolved cross sections to the final reaction channels of H (nl, n = 1–4) have been obtained over a broad energy region. Moreover, the ionization cross sections in the TC-AOCC calculation are also reported for both H(2s) and H(2p) initial target states. The present results are all compared with those from other sources when available. It is found that the magnitude and energy behavior of nl-resolved excitation cross sections for H+–H(2p) collisions are significantly distinct from those of the H(2s) initial state in the entire energy range considered, particularly in the low-energy region. The energy behaviors of the nl-resolved charge exchange cross sections from the H(2p) initial state are similar to those from the H(2s) initial state, but their magnitudes are larger. The present accurate cross-section data are anticipated to provide insight into the research of astrophysics and controlled fusion plasmas.

Über die spektrumanlegung in funkenentladungen

General principles are discussed for a gas discharge plasma involving excited atoms where electron-atom collision processes dominate. It is shown that an optimal kinetic model of this plasma at not large electric field strengths can be based on the rate constants of quenching excited atom states by electron impact. The self-consistent character of atom excitation in gas discharge plasma is important and results in the tail of the energy distribution function of electrons being affected by the excitation process, which in turn influences the excitation rate. These principles are applied to an argon gas discharge plasma where excitation and ionization processes have a stepwise character and proceed via formation of argon atom states with the electron shell 3p 54s.

Hadron therapy combined with nanotechnology has been proposed as an elegant alternative for cancer treatment. Internal amplification of electron emission causing radiobiological effectiveness in nanoinserted biomolecules is of prime importance and has been measured here for the iodouracil molecule. Our experiment involves the measurement of angle and energy resolved double differential cross section (DDCS) of electron emission from iodouraciil and uracil (and also water) in collisions with fast ${\mathrm{C}}^{6+}$ ions. The electron emission from iodouracil is substantially enhanced over that from uracil or water. The enhancement is much larger than the state-of-the-art model for Coulomb ionization based on the continuum distorted wave-eikonal initial state (CDW-EIS) approximation. The electron sensitizing factor ($\ensuremath{\approx}2.4$) is in excellent agreement with the strand-breaking sensitizing factor ($\ensuremath{\approx}2.0$) for metal nanoparticle embedded in a DNA. The enhancement is explained in terms of collective excitation of strongly correlated 4d electrons, known as atomic giant dipole resonance (GDR) in I atoms. The GDR contribution to the enhancement is derived, which is in excellent agreement with recent theoretical prediction, thereby providing conclusive experimental evidence of the crucial role of collective excitation in radio sensitization.