Physical Review A
Systematic theoretical investigation of charge exchange in He+ -alkali-atom collisions
Victor Sidis, C. Kubach, J. Pommier
Abstract
A comprehensive systematic study of near-resonant charge exchange into ${\mathrm{He}}^{*}(n=2)$ levels in ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ -alkali-atom collisions is reported. The relevant quasimolecular properties of the ${(\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{k}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{i})}^{+}$ systems are obtained within the one-electron projected-valence-bond method of Kubach and Sidis. The detailed investigation of the considered systems enables one to assess the relevance of the two-state Demkov model for near-resonant charge exchange and the role of rotational coupling. The present multistate close-coupling treatment considerably improves upon the previous simplified theory of Olson and Smith and nicely reproduces the measured relative abundance of the specific ${\mathrm{He}}^{*}(2^{3,1}S,2^{3,1}P)$ states formed by charge exchange. The calculated summed total charge-exchange cross sections generally agree with experiment for ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$-Cs, -Rb, and -K, whereas problems remain for ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$-Na.