Alliance of opposites: Electrons and positrons make new molecule

Jason A. Young, Clifford M. Surko

Fabrizio Cossu, C. Schuster, Udo Schwingenschlögl

We determine the eigenvalues of the two-site Hubbard molecule with one electron and one positron to describe the characteristics of electron-positron interactions in solids. While the effect of hopping is, in general, opposite to the effect of on-site interaction, we find a complex scenario for the electron-positron pair with a non-vanishing potential drop. We give analytical solutions and discuss the combined effects of the model parameters.

M. W. J. Bromley, Jim Mitroy, S. A. Novikov +2 more

L. D. Barnes, Joan P. Marler, James Patrick Sullivan +1 more

An overview is presented of recent studies of the interaction of low-energy positrons with atoms and molecules using a trap-based positron beam. The beam is tunable from ~100 meV to many electron volts, with a typical energy resolution of 25 meV (FWHM). A variety of scattering processes are investigated using the properties of positron orbits in a spatially varying magnetic field. Recent scattering measurements are reviewed, and new data for electronic excitation, ionization, and positronium formation in noble gases are presented. In a separate set of experiments, positron annihilation below the threshold for positronium formation is studied in molecules as a function of positron energy. The data show large Feshbach resonances in the range of energies of the molecular vibrations. Within the framework of this model, these results provide the first experimental evidence that positrons bind to hydrocarbon molecules.

Andrey V. Solov’yov, V. K. Ivanov, Полозков Роман Григорьевич

D. B. Cassidy