Physical Review A
Channel-coupling array theory for Coulomb three-body dynamics: Antiproton capture by hydrogen atoms
Nobuhiro Yamanaka, Atsushi Ichimura
Abstract
A theory of channel coupling array is developed for rearrangement reactions in Coulomb three-body systems. Inhomogeneous coupled differential equations for the three Faddeev components are derived and directly solved with the technique of complex rotation in the exterior region. This method is applied to slow antiproton collisions with hydrogen atoms. It is found for a collision energy of $6.8\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$ that the antiproton is captured dominantly into protonium states with the principal quantum numbers around 40 and that the electron is released with energies around $2\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$. The electron velocity thereby obtained is much higher than the incident velocity of the antiproton. Time-dependent wave-packet propagation of the Faddeev components is also investigated to illustrate the peculiar dynamics.