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A general single-center close-coupling approach based on a continuum-discretization procedure is developed to calculate excitation and ionization processes in ion-atom collisions. The continuous spectrum of the target is discretized using stationary wave packets constructed from the Coulomb wave functions, the eigenstates of the target Hamiltonian. Such continuum discretization allows one to generate pseudostates with arbitrary energies and distribution. These features are ideal for detailed differential ionization studies. The approach starts from the semiclassical three-body Schrödinger equation for the scattering wave function and leads to a set of coupled differential equations for the transition probability amplitudes. To demonstrate its utility the method is applied to calculate collisions of antiprotons with atomic hydrogen. A comprehensive set of benchmark results from integrated to fully differential cross sections for antiproton-impact ionization of hydrogen in the energy range from 1 keV to 1 MeV is provided. Contrary to previous predictions, we find that at low incident energies the singly differential cross section has a maximum away from the zero emission energy. This feature could not be seen without a fine discretization of the low-energy part of the continuum.

© 2015 American Physical Society. We compare the physical information contained in the Temkin-Poet (TP) scattering wave function representing electron-impact ionization of hydrogen, calculated by the convergent close-coupling (CCC) and generalized Sturmian function (GSF) methodologies. The idea is to show that the ionization cross section can be extracted from the wave functions themselves. Using two different procedures based on hyperspherical Sturmian functions we show that the transition amplitudes contained in both GSF and CCC scattering functions lead to similar single-differential cross sections. The single-continuum channels were also a subject of the present studies, and we show that the elastic and excitation amplitudes are essentially the same as well.

© 2015 EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. The response of an atom to the action of a pulse shorter than the Kepler period of the optically-active electron is often treated analytically using the sudden-perturbation approximation (SPA). It relies on the truncation of the evolution operator expansion in a series over the dimensionless parameter e sys t L, where e sys is the system-dependent characteristic energy and t L is the pulse duration. We examine the SPA with the use of a basis-based solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE) for the case of a hydrogen atom interacting with two different types of ultrashort pulses, a half-cycle pulse and a few-cycle pulse. The length-gauge form of the electron-field interaction potential is used. The SPA transition probabilities are shown to deviate slightly but systematically from the correct values for the positive-energy states in the region where the sudden-perturbation condition is violated. It is shown that the SPA expectation value of the electron displacement as a function of time differ qualitatively from what follows from the ab initio TDSE solution. Nevertheless, the SPA is shown to be a good approximation for the description of the expectation value of the electron momentum.

An overview is given of the recently developed adiabatic-nuclei convergent closecoupling method for positron-molecule scattering. Fixed-nuclei single-centre calculations of positron-H2 scattering are presented. Particular emphasis is given to demonstrating convergence with increasing size of the basis and the projectile partial-wave expansion. Results are converged to within ±5%.

©2015 American Physical Society. Stopping powers of antiprotons in H2 and H2O targets are calculated using a semiclassical time-dependent convergent close-coupling method. In our approach the H2 target is treated using a two-center molecular multiconfiguration approximation, which fully accounts for the electron-electron correlation. Double-ionization and dissociative ionization channels are taken into account using an independent-event model. The vibrational excitation and nuclear scattering contributions are also included. The H2O target is treated using a neonization method proposed by C. C. Montanari and J. E. Miraglia [J. Phys. B 47, 015201 (2014)JPAPEH0953-407510.1088/0953-4075/47/1/015201], whereby the ten-electron water molecule is described as a dressed Ne-like atom in a pseudospherical potential. Despite being the most comprehensive approach to date, the results obtained for H2 only qualitatively agree with the available experimental measurements.

©2015 American Physical Society. We report a combined experimental and theoretical study on the electron-impact ionization of helium at E0=70.6eV and equal energy sharing of the two outgoing electrons (E1=E2=23eV), where a double-peak or dip structure in the binary region of the triple differential cross section is observed. The experimental cross sections are compared with results from convergent close-coupling (CCC), B-spline R-matrix-with-pseudostates (BSR), and time-dependent close-coupling (TDCC) calculations, as well as predictions from the dynamic screening three-Coulomb (DS3C) theory. Excellent agreement is obtained between experiment and the nonperturbative CCC, BSR, and TDCC theories, and good agreement is also found for the DS3C model. The data are further analyzed regarding contributions in particular coupling schemes for the spins of either the two outgoing electrons or one of the outgoing electrons and the 1s electron remaining in the residual ion. While both coupling schemes can be used to explain the observed double-peak structure in the cross section, the second one allows for the isolation of the exchange contribution between the incident projectile and the target. For different observation angles of the two outgoing electrons, we interpret the results as a propensity for distinguishing these two electrons - one being more likely the incident projectile and the other one being more likely ejected from the target.