A new mechanism for electron transfer in fast ion-atomic collisions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel electron transfer mechanism in fast ion-atom collisions, where electron capture occurs via emission of an additional electron, leading to transfer-ionization with distinctive backward electron emission.

Contribution

It proposes a new first-order electron capture mechanism involving electron emission, expanding understanding of electron transfer processes in ion-atom collisions.

Findings

Electron emission mainly occurs into the backward semi-sphere.

The mechanism results in transfer-ionization.

It parallels radiative capture but involves electron emission instead of photon emission.

Abstract

We discuss a new mechanism for the electron capture in fast ion-atom collisions. Similarly like in the radiative capture, where the electron transfer occurs due to photon emission, within the mechanism under consideration the electron capture takes place due to the emission of an additional electron. This first order capture process leads to the so called transfer-ionization and has a number of interesting features, in particular, in the target frame it results in the electron emission mainly into the backward semi-sphere.