Auger decay of multiply excited atomic systems

Abstract

By studying the branching ratios in the Auger decay of many triply excited three-electron atomic systems, we try to discover the physical reason behind the relative magnitude of the partial widths. It appears that Auger decay is most likely to happen when the two interacting electrons are in close proximity and the overlap of their charge distribution is significant in coordinate space. It is also pointed out that when an ${\mathrm{nl}}_{1}{\mathrm{nl}}_{2}{n}^{\ensuremath{'}}{l}_{3}{(n}^{\ensuremath{'}}gng~2)$ state decays into an ${n}^{\ensuremath{''}}{l}_{1}{n}^{\ensuremath{'}}{l}_{3}(ng{n}^{\ensuremath{''}})+\ensuremath{\epsilon}{l}_{2}$ channel, the ${n}^{\ensuremath{'}}{l}_{3}$ orbital of the initial state is more diffused than that of the two-electron target. Therefore, some ${n}^{\ensuremath{''}}{l}_{1}{\mathrm{ml}}_{3}(mg{n}^{\ensuremath{'}})+\ensuremath{\epsilon}{l}_{2}$ channels will also contribute significantly to the Auger width of this state. The argument presented in this work is also applied to two- and four-electron systems. Explicit examples are presented.