Collective mechanisms for atomic processes in plasmas

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5828836

Gutierrez Rivera, F A

New mechanisms for atomic processes in plasmas induced by the collective behavior of the system are proposed, the collective behavior being a consequence of the long range of the Coulomb forces between the (charged) particles. These new mechanisms are hydrogen recombination with plasmon emission, ionization by plasmon absorption, and bound-bound and free-free atomic transitions with emission or absorption of plasmons. The Bohm-Pines Fock-Tani Hamiltonian for a proton at rest immersed in a finite temperature plasma (in the electron gas model), is obtained from first principles by a sequence of canonical transformations. This Hamiltonian shows explicitly the new proposed reaction and scattering mechanisms, in which, the emission or absorption of plasmons allow the process to occur. Expressions for plasmonic recombination matrix elements in the orthogonalized Born approximation (OBA) and the distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) are given in terms of 6- or 12-dimensional integrals which are reduced analytically to 2-dimensional integrals. Explicit evaluations of the cross section for the plasmonic and radiative recombination in the (OBA) are obtained. The results indicate that the radiative mechanism is negligible compared to the plasmonic mode for the value of the parameters and quantum numbers indicated above. Finally by using a generalized Schroedinger equation for composite particles in a medium he recalculates the energy shift of a hydrogen atom produced by the exchange between a free electron and the bound atomic electron. The result shows that the shifts are important for the highly excited states of atoms in plasmas.

• Research Organization: Oregon Univ., Eugene, OR (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5828836
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640302 -- Atomic
Molecular & Chemical Physics-- Atomic & Molecular Properties & Theory
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74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ABSORPTION
ATOMIC PHYSICS
ATOMS
BORN APPROXIMATION
CANONICAL TRANSFORMATIONS
CHARGED PARTICLES
COULOMB FIELD
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
DWBA
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELEMENTS
EMISSION
ENERGY LEVELS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EQUATIONS
EXCITED STATES
HAMILTONIANS
HYDROGEN
IONIZATION
KINETICS
MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS
NONMETALS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PHYSICS
PLASMA
PLASMONS
QUANTUM OPERATORS
QUASI PARTICLES
RECOMBINATION
SCHROEDINGER EQUATION
TRANSFORMATIONS
WAVE EQUATIONS