Energy distributions for ionization in ion-atom collisions

TL;DR

This paper presents a Fourier transform-based method within the Close Coupling approach to accurately compute energy distributions of ionized electrons in ion-atom collisions, validated on simple systems and extendable to complex ones.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of Fourier transforms to Schrödinger equation solutions for better ionization energy distribution calculations in ion-atom collisions.

Findings

Successful application to p+H and p+He systems

Good agreement with experimental data

Method is extendable to complex systems

Abstract

In this paper we discuss how through the process of applying the Fourier transform to solutions of the Schr\"odinger equation in the Close Coupling approach, good results for the ionization differential cross section in energy for electrons ejected in ion-atom collisions are obtained. The differential distributions are time dependent and through their time average, the comparison with experimental and theoretical data reported in the literature can be made. The procedure is illustrated with reasonable success in two systems, $p+H$ and $p+He$, and is expected to be extended without inherent difficulties to more complex systems. This allows advancing in the understanding of the calculation of ionization processes in ion-atom collisions.