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Physical Review Letters

Low-energy scattering of electrons on positronium atoms

Vladimir S. Melezhik, Filip R. Vukajlović

Published Aug 10, 1987• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have calculated cross sections for elastic and spin-flip scattering processes of electrons on positronium atoms in the para and ortho states in the energy region scrE\ensuremath{\le}0.05 eV; elastic and symmetric charge-exchange cross sections for the same system were calculated without spin interactions for the scattering energies scrE\ensuremath{\le}4 eV. This energy region has been treated for the first time. The calculations have been done by the adiabatic method, where this three-body problem reduces to the multichannel-scattering problem. Very high scattering cross sections were obtained, expecially near the threshold for spin-flip processes.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.59.641

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Low-energy scattering of electrons by positronium

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Michael D. Higgins, K. M. Daily, Chris H. Greene

Low-energy elastic and inelastic scattering in the Ps($1s$)-Ps($2s$) channel is treated in a four-body hyperspherical coordinate calculation. Adiabatic potentials are calculated for triplet-triplet, singlet-singlet, and singlet-triplet spin symmetries in the spin representation of coupled electrons and coupled positrons, with total angular momentum $L=0$ and parity equal to $+1$. The $s$-wave scattering lengths for the asymptotic Ps($1s$)-Ps($2s$) channel are calculated for each spin configuration. Results obtained for the $s$-wave scattering lengths are ${a}_{\mathrm{TT}}=7.3(2){a}_{0}\ensuremath{-}i0.02(1){a}_{0}, {a}_{\mathrm{SS}}=13.2(2){a}_{0}\ensuremath{-}i0.9(2){a}_{0}$, and ${a}_{\mathrm{ST}}=9.7(2){a}_{0}$ for each spin configuration. Spin recoupling is implemented to extract the scattering lengths for collisions of Ps in different spin configurations through properly symmetrized unitary transformations. Calculations of experimentally relevant scattering lengths and cross sections are carried out for Ps atoms initially prepared in different uncoupled spin states.

arXiv:1904.04295•Journal of Physics Conference Series•Jul 29, 2019•4 citations
We have calculated cross sections for elastic and spin-flip scattering processes of electrons on positronium atoms in the para and ortho states in the energy region scrE\ensuremath{\le}0.05 eV; elastic and symmetric charge-exchange cross sections for the same system were calculated without spin interactions for the scattering energies scrE\ensuremath{\le}4 eV. This energy region has been treated for the first time. The calculations have been done by the adiabatic method, where this three-body problem reduces to the multichannel-scattering problem. Very high scattering cross sections were obtained, expecially near the threshold for spin-flip processes.
Scattering of ortho positronium (Ps) by cesium and rubidium atoms has been investigated employing a three-Ps-state coupled-channel model with Ps(1s,2s,2p) states using a time-reversal-symmetric regularized electronexchange model potential. We find a narrow S-wave singlet resonance at 5.057 eV of width 0.003 eV in the Ps-Rb system and at 5.067 eV of width 0.003 eV in the Ps-Cs system. Singlet P-wave resonances in both systems are found at 5.3 eV of width 0.4 eV. Singlet D-wave structures are found at 5.4 eV in both systems. The pronounced P- and D-wave resonances in these systems lead to easily detectable local minima in the low-energy elastic cross sections. We also report results for elastic and Ps-excitation cross sections for Ps scattering by Rb and Cs. PACS Number(s): 34.10.+x, 36.10.DrRecent measurements of ortho positronium (Ps) scattering cross section by H2, N2, He, Ne, Ar, C4H10, and C5H12 [1–7] have initiated new theoretical investigations [8–14] in this subject. We suggested [15–17] a regularized, symmetric, nonlocal electron-exchange model
The total elastic scattering and ortho-para conversion cross sections of low-energy ortho-positronium with hydrogen atoms have been calculated in the static exchange approximation including the l=0, 1 and 2 partial waves with the incident positronium wavenumber k ranging from 0 to 3.0 (in atomic units) for l=0 and from 0 to 1.2 for l=1 and 2. The scattering lengths are a (+) =7.275 a 0 and a (-) =2.476 a 0 for the space-symmetric and anti-symmetric cases respectively. A resonance is found in the anti-symmetric s-wave scattering at k approximately=2.07, but its real existence is of course questionable because of neglected effects.
We have continued our investigation into the elastic scattering of positronium atoms by hydrogen atoms, extending the work to include the spin-one (triplet) state of the two electrons. Once again we have extracted the SSS-wave phase shifts from normalizable trial functions by examining the spatial behavior of the center-of-mass wave functions. An effective-range expansion linear in the positronium energy fits the results very well and leads to a scattering length ${a}^{(\ensuremath{-})}\ensuremath{\simeq}2.36{a}_{0}$, compared with the static result ${a}^{(\ensuremath{-})}=2.476{a}_{0}$ of Hara and Fraser. The SSS-wave total and ortho-para conversion cross sections are calculated by making use of both 1S^{1}S1S and 3S^{3}S3S results. In the 3S^{3}S3S case, we see no indication of any resonances below the excitation threshold at 5.1 eV.
We investigate ortho-positronium--lithium-atom (Ps-Li) scattering using static-exchange and three-Ps-state coupled-channel calculations. The present three-Ps-state scheme, while closely agreeing with the resonance and binding energies in the Ps-H system, predicts $S\ensuremath{-},$ $P\ensuremath{-},$ and DDD-wave resonances at 4.25 eV, 4.9 eV, and 5.25 eV, respectively, in the electronic spin-singlet channel of Ps-Li scattering. The present calculation also yields a Ps-Li binding in this attractive singlet channel with an approximate binding energy of 0.218 eV, which is in adherence with the recent findings of a chemically stable PsLi system using stocastic variational and quantum Monte Carlo calculations. We further report elastic, $\mathrm{Ps}(2s)\ensuremath{-},$ and Ps(2p)\mathrm{Ps}(2p)Ps(2p)-excitation cross sections at low to medium energies (0.068--30 eV).
Low-energy elastic and inelastic scattering in the Ps(1s1s1s)-Ps(2s2s2s) channel is treated in a four-body hyperspherical coordinate calculation. Adiabatic potentials are calculated for triplet-triplet, singlet-singlet, and singlet-triplet spin symmetries in the spin representation of coupled electrons and coupled positrons, with total angular momentum L=0L=0L=0 and parity equal to +1+1+1. The sss-wave scattering lengths for the asymptotic Ps(1s1s1s)-Ps(2s2s2s) channel are calculated for each spin configuration. Results obtained for the sss-wave scattering lengths are ${a}_{\mathrm{TT}}=7.3(2){a}_{0}\ensuremath{-}i0.02(1){a}_{0}, {a}_{\mathrm{SS}}=13.2(2){a}_{0}\ensuremath{-}i0.9(2){a}_{0}$, and aST=9.7(2)a0{a}_{\mathrm{ST}}=9.7(2){a}_{0}aST​=9.7(2)a0​ for each spin configuration. Spin recoupling is implemented to extract the scattering lengths for collisions of Ps in different spin configurations through properly symmetrized unitary transformations. Calculations of experimentally relevant scattering lengths and cross sections are carried out for Ps atoms initially prepared in different uncoupled spin states.