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At least 37 records · Page 2

Atomic collisions in the presence of laser radiation - Time dependence and the asymptotic wave function

A time-dependent, wave-packet description of atomic collisions in the presence of laser radiation is extracted from the more conventional time-independent, stationary-state description. This approach resolves certain difficulties of interpretation in the time-independent approach which arise in the case of asymptotic near resonance. In the two-state model investigated, the approach predicts the existence of three spherically scattered waves in this asymptotically near-resonant case.

Devries, P. L.↗

Effect of inelastic electron-atom collisions on the Balmer decrement

Calculation of the Balmer decrement in radiatively ionized hydrogen gas as a function of temperature and density, taking into account the effect of electron-atom collisions. It is found that once the electron density exceeds 10 to the 10th power per cu cm significant deviations from the normal radiative recombination decrement begin to occur. Implications of these results for the physical conditions in the line-emitting region of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 are discussed briefly.

Adams, W. M.↗

Ion-Atom Cold Collisions and Atomic Clocks

Collisions between ultracold neutral atoms have for some time been the subject of investigation, initially with hydrogen and more recently with laser cooled alkali atoms. Advances in laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms in a Magneto-Optic Trap (MOT) have made cold atoms available as the starting point for many laser cooled atomic physics investigations. The most spectacularly successful of these, the observation of Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) in a dilute ultra-cold spin polarized atomic vapor, has accelerated the study of cold collisions. Experimental and theoretical studies of BEC and the long range interaction between cold alkali atoms is at the boundary of atomic and low temperature physics. Such studies have been difficult and would not have been possible without the development and advancement of laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms. By contrast, ion-atom interactions at low temperature, also very difficult to study prior to modern day laser cooling, have remained largely unexplored. But now, many laboratories worldwide have almost routine access to cold neutral atoms. The combined technologies of ion trapping, together with laser cooling of neutrals has made these studies experimentally feasible and several very important, novel applications might come out of such investigations . This paper is an investigation of ion-atom interactions in the cold and ultra-cold temperature regime. Some of the collisional ion-atom interactions present at room temperature are very much reduced in the low temperature regime. Reaction rates for charge transfer between unlike atoms, A + B(+) approaches A(+) + B, are expected to fall rapidly with temperature, approximately as T(sup 5/2). Thus, cold mixtures of atoms and ions are expected to coexist for very long times, unlike room temperature mixtures of the same ion-atom combination. Thus, it seems feasible to cool ions via collisions with laser cooled atoms. Many of the conventional collisional interactions, exploited as a useful tool at room temperature and higher, are greatly enhanced at low energy. For example, collisional spin transfer from one species of polarized atoms to another has long been a useful method for polarizing a sample of atoms where no other means was available. Because optical pumping cannot be used to polarize the nuclear spin of Xe-129 or He-3 (for use in nmr imaging of the lungs), the nuclear spins are polarized via collisions with an optically pumped Rb vapor in a cell containing both gases. In another case, a spin polarized thermal Cs beam was used to polarize the hyperfine states of trapped He(+)-3 ions in order to measure their hyperfine clock transition frequency. The absence of an x-ray light source to optically pump the ground state of the He(+)-3 ion necessitated this alternative state preparation. Similarly, Cd(+) and Sr(+) ions were spin-oriented via collisions in a cell with optically pumped Rb vapor. Resonant RF spin changing transitions in the ground state of the ions were detected by changes in the Rb resonance light absorption. Because cold collision spin exchange rates scale with temperature as T(sup -1/2) this technique is expected to be a far more powerful tool than the room temperature counterpart. This factor of 100 or more enhancement in spin exchange reaction rates at low temperatures is the basis for a novel trapped ion clock where laser cooled neutrals will cool, state select and monitor the ion clock transition. The advantage over conventional direct laser cooling of trapped ions is that the very expensive and cumbersome UV laser light sources, required to excite the ionic cooling transition, are effectively replaced by simple diode lasers.

Prestage, John D.↗

Applications of beam-foil spectroscopy to atomic collisions in solids

Some selected papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on Beam-Foil Spectroscopy, whose results are of particular pertinence to ionic collision phenomena in solids, are reviewed. The topics discussed include solid target effects and means of surmounting them in the measurement of excited projectile ion lifetimes for low-energy heavy element ions; the electron emission accompanying the passage of heavy particles through solid targets; the collision broadening of X rays emitted from 100 keV ions moving in solids; residual K-shell excitation in chlorine ions penetrating carbon; comparison between 40 MeV Si on gaseous SiH4 targets at 300 mtorr and 40 MeV Si on Al; and the emergent surface interaction in beam-foil spectroscopy. A distinct overlap of interests between the sciences of beam-foil spectroscopy and atomic collisions in solids is pointed out.

Sellin, I. A.↗

Multiple scattering and charged-particle - hydrogen-atom collisions

Glauber-approximation scattering amplitudes for charged-particle - hydrogen-atom elastic and inelastic collisions are derived directly in terms of the known particle-electron and particle-proton Coulomb scattering amplitudes and the known hydrogen-atom form factors. It is shown that the particle-hydrogen amplitude contains no single-scattering term. The double-scattering term is obtained as a two-dimensional integral in momentum space. It is demonstrated how the result can be used as the starting point for an alternative and relatively simple derivation, in closed form, of the Glauber particle-hydrogen scattering amplitude for transitions from the ground state to an arbitrary (nlm) state.

Franco, V.↗

Quantum-mechanical theory including angular momenta analysis of atom-atom collisions in a laser field

The problem of two atoms colliding in the presence of an intense radiation field, such as that of a laser, is investigated. The radiation field, which couples states of different electronic symmetry, is described by the number state representation while the electronic degrees of freedom (plus spin-orbit interaction) are discussed in terms of a diabatic representation. The total angular momentum of the field-free system and the angular momentum transferred by absorption (or emission) of a photon are explicitly considered in the derivation of the coupled scattering equations. A model calculation is discussed for the Xe + F collision system.

Devries, P. L.↗

Charge transfer reactions in multiply charged ion-atom collisions

Charge-transfer reactions in collisions between highly charged ions and neutral atoms of hydrogen and/or helium may be rapid at thermal energies. If these reactions are rapid, they will suppress highly charged ions in H I regions and guarantee that the observed absorption features from such ions cannot originate in the interstellar gas. A discussion of such charge-transfer reactions is presented and compared with the available experimental data. The possible implications of these reactions for observations of the interstellar medium, H II regions, and planetary nebulae are outlined.

Steigman, G.↗

Laboratory studies of atomic collision processes of importance in planetary atmospheres

Progress in the following research supported under NSG 7386 is reported: (1) measurement of differential cross sections for atomic and molecular collisions relevant to analysis and modeling of data from Pioneer 11, Pioneer 12, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2; (2) analysis of measured differential cross section results to provide scattering data in forms that are easy to apply to atmospheric modeling work; (3) analysis of the data to give basic information on the molecular potentials involved in the scattering process; and (4) development and initial use of apparatus to study dissociative processes in neutral molecules.

Stebbings, R. F.↗

Laser Assisted Free-Free Transition in Electron - Atom Collision

Free-free transition is studied for electron-Hydrogen atom system in ground state at very low incident energies in presence of an external homogeneous, monochromatic and linearly polarized laser field. The incident electron is considered to be dressed by the laser in a non perturbative manner by choosing the Volkov solutions in both the channels. The space part of the scattering wave function for the electron is solved numerically by taking into account the effect of electron exchange, short range as well as of the long range interactions. Laser assisted differential as well as elastic total cross sections are calculated for single photon absorption/emission in the soft photon limit, the laser intensity being much less than the atomic field intensity. A strong suppression is noted in the laser assisted cross sections as compared to the field free situations. Significant difference is noted in the singlet and the triplet cross sections.

Sinha, C.↗