COLTRIMS studies on singly ionizing ion-atom collisions: The roles of the projectile and target coherence

Abstract

SynopsisA theoretical analysis of the so-called projectile and target coherence in COLTRIMS experiments on single ionization of atoms by fast ions is presented. Using time-dependent quantum scattering theory, it is shown that the projectile coherence has no serious impact on the measured fully differential cross sections. In contrast, the effects of the target coherence might be of greater importance in the discussed experiments.