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Coherence and correlations in fast ion-atom collisions

J.E. Burgdoerfer

Published Jan 1, 1987• 0 citations
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Abstract

This paper focusses on the description, classification and interpretation of coherent excitation of atomic or ionic systems with Coulombic two-body final state interactions. A group-theoretical approach is used to classify and interpret coherent excitation. The most significant result is that the state of excitation represented by a density operator can be mapped one to one onto expectation values of a set of operators. Examples are used to illustrate what can be learned about the collision process from investigations of coherent excitation. (JDH)

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This paper focusses on the description, classification and interpretation of coherent excitation of atomic or ionic systems with Coulombic two-body final state interactions. A group-theoretical approach is used to classify and interpret coherent excitation. The most significant result is that the state of excitation represented by a density operator can be mapped one to one onto expectation values of a set of operators. Examples are used to illustrate what can be learned about the collision process from investigations of coherent excitation. (JDH)
We analyze properties of the density matrix of doubly excited two-electron systems formed in inelastic collisions. Formulas for the two-particle joint angular probability density, the angular correlation function, and the reduced single-particle density are derived. Of particular interest is the interplay between the intrinsic correlations of the stationary two-electron state and collisionally induced coherences. We focus on its effects on the correlated and single-particle motion of the electrons. If one chooses approximate stationary wave functions reflecting the approximate O(4)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}O(4)\ensuremath{\supset}O(4) dynamical symmetry, a simple quasiclassical interpretation of coherence and correlation in terms of shapes and modes of the relative motion of Kepler orbits can be given. The present description is applied to recent experimental results by Van der Straten and Morgenstern [Comments At. Mol. Phys. 19, 243 (1986)].
Charge transfer from high‐n atomic targets populates comparably excited states of ionic projectiles. This paper reviews a decade of accelerating experimental and theoretical progress in the field, which offers an unusual variety of challenges in the preparation of initial states and in the analysis of final states. Interesting dynamical questions at the interface of classical and quantum mechanics are posed by new experimental results. Rydberg atom phenomena are increasingly found to be important for other areas of atomic collision physics in all energy regimes.
Ion-pair formation processes are studied in collisions of Rydberg atoms with neutral particles possessing small electron affinities. Nonadiabatic transitions from a Rydberg covalent term to an ionic term of a quasi-molecule are considered using the modified Landau-Zener theory supplemented with calculation of survival factors of an anion decaying in the Coulomb field of a positive ion core. Using the technique of irreducible tensor operators and the momentum representation of the wavefunction of a highly excited atom, exact expressions are obtained for transition matrix elements and the ionic-covalent coupling parameter. The approach developed in the paper provides the description beyond the scope of a conventional assumption about a small variation of the wavefunction of the Rydberg atom on the range of electron coordinates determined by the characteristic radius of the wavefunction of the anion. This allows one to correctly consider long-range effects of the interaction between a weakly bound electron and the neutral core of a negative ion in processes under study. It is shown by the example of thermal collisions of Xe( nf ) atoms with CH 3 CN molecules that this is very important for a reliable quantitative description of anion formation with a low binding energy. The results are compared with experiments and calculations performed within the framework of a number of approximate methods.