Dynamic two-center resonant photoionization in slow atomic collisions

TL;DR

This paper investigates a resonant photoionization process in slow atomic collisions, revealing a dominant ionization channel mediated by two-center electron correlations that surpasses traditional mechanisms even at large interatomic distances.

Contribution

It introduces a new understanding of two-center resonant photoionization in atomic collisions, highlighting its dominance over conventional ionization pathways at large separations.

Findings

Resonant photoionization via two-center electron correlations can dominate in slow atomic collisions.

The process remains efficient even when atoms are separated by distances much larger than a typical bound system.

The study extends the understanding of photoionization mechanisms beyond bound systems to collisional scenarios.

Abstract

An additional channel opens for photoionization of atom $A$ by an electromagnetic field if it traverses a gas of atoms $B$ resonantly coupled to this field. We show that this channel, in which $A$ is ionized via resonant photoexcitation of $B$ with subsequent energy transfer to $A$ through two-center electron correlations and which is very efficient when $A$ and $B$ constitute a bound system, can strongly dominate the ionization of $A$ also in collisions where the average distance between $A$ and $B$ exceeds the typical size of a bound system by orders of magnitude.