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arXiv:1501.01893 · Physical Review A

Positronium-atom scattering at low energies

I. I. Fabrikant, G. F. Gribakin

Published Nov 20, 2014• 31 citations
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Abstract

A pseudopotential for positronium-atom interaction, based on electron-atom and positron-atom phase shifts, is constructed, and the phase shifts for Ps-Kr and Ps-Ar scattering are calculated. This approach allows us to extend the Ps-atom cross sections, obtained previously in the impulse approximation [I. I. Fabrikant and G. F. Gribakin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 243201 (2014)], to energies below the Ps ionization threshold. Although experimental data are not available in this low-energy region, our results describe well the tendency of the measured cross sections to drop with decreasing velocity at $v<1$ a.u. Our results show that the effect of the Ps-atom van der Waals interaction is weak compared to the polarization interaction in electron-atom and positron-atom scattering. As a result, the Ps scattering length for both Ar and Kr is positive, and the Ramsauer-Townsend minimum is not observed for Ps scattering from these targets. This makes Ps scattering quite different from electron scattering in the low-energy region, in contrast to the intermediate energy range from the Ps ionization threshold up to $v\ensuremath{\sim}2$ a.u., where the two are similar.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.90.052717

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Physical Review A•Dec 14, 2001•44 citations
A pseudopotential for positronium-atom interaction, based on electron-atom and positron-atom phase shifts, is constructed, and the phase shifts for Ps-Kr and Ps-Ar scattering are calculated. This approach allows us to extend the Ps-atom cross sections, obtained previously in the impulse approximation [I. I. Fabrikant and G. F. Gribakin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 243201 (2014)], to energies below the Ps ionization threshold. Although experimental data are not available in this low-energy region, our results describe well the tendency of the measured cross sections to drop with decreasing velocity at v<1v<1v<1 a.u. Our results show that the effect of the Ps-atom van der Waals interaction is weak compared to the polarization interaction in electron-atom and positron-atom scattering. As a result, the Ps scattering length for both Ar and Kr is positive, and the Ramsauer-Townsend minimum is not observed for Ps scattering from these targets. This makes Ps scattering quite different from electron scattering in the low-energy region, in contrast to the intermediate energy range from the Ps ionization threshold up to v\ensuremath∼2v\ensuremath{\sim}2v\ensuremath∼2 a.u., where the two are similar.
Projectile-elastic, target-elastic, and full close-coupling approximation models have been employed to investigate scattering of ortho-positronium off Li and Na atoms at low energies. Nine different basis sets for each system have been used to find the relative importance of atomic (target and projectile) states on the elastic scattering parameters and the convergence of the predicted results with added eigen- and pseudostates. The sss-wave elastic phase shifts, scattering lengths and cross sections of both the systems are reported upto the incident energy k=0.5a.u.k=0.5\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{a.u.}k=0.5a.u. and compared with the corresponding existing theoretical predictions. It has been found that the van der Waals and higher order long-range interactions play a crucial role in predicting sss-wave elastic parameters for Ps--alkali-metal-atom systems at low energies.
Low-energy properties of spin-polarized electron-helium (23S)(2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}S)(23S) and spin-polarized positronium-helium (23S)(2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}S)(23S) scattering are calculated using the modified confined variational method. To take the van der Waals interaction into consideration, the van der Waals coefficient between positronium and helium (23S)(2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}S)(23S) is calculated using the explicitly correlated Gaussian basis. Compared with the ground state noble gases, the larger scattering length and zero pickoff annihilation rate indicates that He(23S)\mathrm{He}(2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}S)He(23S) may be a more suitable cooling gas. In the energy range we considered, no similarity is found for the SSS-wave cross sections between these two scatterings. A Ramsauer-Townsend minimum is observed in spin-polarized electron-helium(23S)(2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}S)(23S) scattering due to the large polarization of metastable helium. This may open a new way to find and study the Ramsauer-Townsend effect.
Total cross sections for the scattering of low-energy electrons and positrons by atomic beryllium in the energy range below the first inelastic thresholds are calculated. A Ramsauer–Townsend minimum is seen in the electron scattering cross sections, while no such effect is found in the case of positron scattering. A minimum total cross section of 0.016 a 0 2 at 0.0029 eV is observed for the electron case. In the limit of zero energy, the cross sections yield a scattering length of −0.61 a 0 for electron and a 0 for positron scattering.
Positronium (Ps) scattering by noble-gas atoms (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) is studied in the frozen-target approximation and with inclusion of the van der Waals interaction. Single-particle electron and positron states in the field of the target atom are calculated, with the system enclosed by a hard spherical wall. The two-particle Ps wave function is expanded in these states, and the Hamiltonian matrix is diagonalized, giving the Ps energy levels in the cavity. Scattering phase shifts, scattering lengths, and cross sections are extracted from these energies and compared with existing calculations and experimental data. Analysis of the effect of the van der Waals interaction shows that it cannot explain the recent experimental data of Brawley et al. for Ar and Xe [Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 223201 (2015)].
The scattering of orthopositronium from Kr and Xe is investigated with the fixed core stochastic variational method. The scattering lengths for Ps-Kr and Ps-Xe scattering in the fixed core approximation are 3.18a0{3.18a}_{0}3.18a0​ and 3.82a0,{3.82a}_{0},3.82a0​, respectively. Inclusion of core-polarization potentials leads to a significant reduction in the scattering lengths. The Ps-Kr and Ps-Xe scattering lengths were 1.98a0{1.98a}_{0}1.98a0​ and 2.29a0{2.29a}_{0}2.29a0​ for polarization potentials that were tuned to an average of the model electron-atom and positron-atom scattering lengths for the respective atoms. Other choices of the polarization potential resulted in scattering lengths that could be larger by 0.3a0{0.3a}_{0}0.3a0​ or smaller by 0.8a0.{0.8a}_{0}.0.8a0​. The pick-off annihilation parameter 1Zeff{}_{1}{Z}_{\mathrm{eff}}1​Zeff​ has also been computed as part of the analysis. The present values of 1Zeff{}_{1}{Z}_{\mathrm{eff}}1​Zeff​ are about 3 to 10 times smaller than the accepted experimental values since short-range electron-positron correlations were ignored when the annihilation matrix element was evaluated.
The scattering of orthopositronium from He, Ne, Ar, Li+,{\mathrm{Li}}^{+},Li+, Na+,{\mathrm{Na}}^{+},Na+, and K+{\mathrm{K}}^{+}K+ is investigated with the fixed-core stochastic variational method. The scattering length for $\mathrm{Ps}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{He}$ scattering was 1.57a0,{1.57a}_{0},1.57a0​, a value consistent with the threshold cross sections derived from three positron lifetime experiments. The scattering lengths for the $\mathrm{P}\mathrm{s}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{N}\mathrm{e}$ and $\mathrm{P}\mathrm{s}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{r}$ systems were 1.55a0{1.55a}_{0}1.55a0​ and 1.79a0,{1.79a}_{0},1.79a0​, respectively. That there was only a 15% variation among the scattering lengths is compatible with the experiment of Coleman et al. [J. Phys. B 27, 981 (1994)], who found the low-energy cross sections for He, Ne, and Ar to be about the same size. The scattering lengths for Ps scattering from Li+,{\mathrm{Li}}^{+},Li+, Na+,{\mathrm{Na}}^{+},Na+, and K+{\mathrm{K}}^{+}K+ were 12.9a0,{12.9a}_{0},12.9a0​, 28.5a0,{28.5a}_{0},28.5a0​, and $\ensuremath{-}{1.9a}_{0}.$ The relatively small magnitude of the ${\mathrm{P}\mathrm{s}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{K}}^{+}$ scattering length strongly supports previous suggestions that the ${\mathrm{P}\mathrm{s}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{K}}^{+}$ system does not support a bound state. The annihilation parameter 1Zeff{}^{1}{Z}_{\mathrm{eff}}1Zeff​ has also been computed as part of the analysis. The present values of 1Zeff{}^{1}{Z}_{\mathrm{eff}}1Zeff​ are about 2.5--3 times smaller than the accepted experimental values since short-range electron-positron correlations were not taken into consideration when the annihilation matrix element was evaluated.