The general expression for the transition amplitude of two-photon ionization of atomic hydrogen
Erna Karule, B. Moine
Two-photon ionization of atomic hydrogen with an excess photon is revisited. The non-relativistic dipole approximation and Coulomb Green function (CGF) formalism are applied. Using the CGF Sturmian expansion straightforwardly, one gets the radial transition amplitude in the form of an infinite sum over Gauss hypergeometric functions which are polynomials. It is convergent if all intermediate states are in the discrete spectrum. In the case of two-photon ionization with an excess photon, when photoionization is also possible, intermediate states are in the continuum. We performed the explicit summation over intermediate states and got a simple general expression for the radial transition amplitude in the form of a finite sum over Appell hypergeometric functions, which are not polynomials. An Appell function may be expressed as an infinite sum over Gauss functions. In the case of ionization by an excess photon, Gauss functions are transformed to give a convergent radial transition amplitude for the whole region. The generalized cross sections for two-photon above-threshold ionization of atomic hydrogen in the ground state and excited states calculated by us agree very well with results of previous calculations. Generalized cross sections for two-photon ionization of positronium in the ground state are obtained by scaling those for atomic hydrogen.
Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•May 2, 2003•15 citations