Experimental Geometries and Approaches

An overview of the basic experimental setups that have been used for atomic collision experiments involving electron, atom, and ion beams is given. Starting from angle-integrated measurements with unpolarized beams without observation of the collision partners after the scattering, the level of detail is increased step by step, resulting in angle-differential setups, preparation of polarized beams, coincidence techniques, and polarization analysis after the collision. Special emphasis is given to “time-reversed” studies involving laser-prepared targets.