Discrepancy between theory and experiment for nonplanar symmetric (e,2e) momentum profiles of H/sub 2/ (/sup 1/. sigma. /sub g//sup +/)

Journal Article · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Phys. Rev. A; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.32.3784· OSTI ID:5073347

Liu, J W

The theoretical (e,2e) reaction cross sections for H/sub 2/ in the plane-wave impulse approximation are calculated by use of the very highly electron correlated ground-state wave function of H/sub 2/ (this wave function gives 98% of molecular binding energy) and the exact Born-Oppenheimer wave functions of H/sub 2/ /sup +/ for the various electronic states. The theoretical value for the n = 2 to n = 1 cross-section ratio for qapprox. =0.3 a.u. is in good agreement with the experiment, where n is the principal molecular-ion quantum number and q is the recoil momentum. However, the disagreement of 34% for qapprox. =0.7 a.u. remains unresolved. The separate calculated cross sections for transitions to the n = 2 final states remain in total disagreement with two sets of experimental data. As a result of the large disagreement, the first-order distorted-wave impulse approximation may not be able to explain such a large discrepancy. It is argued that the disagreement, as large as 10 times in the separate energy spectrum expecially for the peak observed around 30 eV assigned to 2psigma/sub u/, may be due to the involvement of an autoionization process of H/sub 2/. This resembles the energetic proton spectrum reported for H/sub 2/ by electron impact.

• Research Organization: Division of Physics, National Research Council, Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6
• OSTI ID: 5073347
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. A; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. A; (United States) Vol. 32:6; ISSN PLRAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640304* -- Atomic
Molecular & Chemical Physics-- Collision Phenomena
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
AUTOIONIZATION
COLLISIONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONFIGURATION INTERACTION
CROSS SECTIONS
ELECTRON COLLISIONS
ELECTRON-MOLECULE COLLISIONS
ELEMENTS
FUNCTIONS
HYDROGEN
IMPULSE APPROXIMATION
IONIZATION
MOLECULE COLLISIONS
NONMETALS
WAVE FUNCTIONS