Dominant Correlation Effects in Two-Electron Atoms

Abstract

Two-electron atoms have been investigated near threshold of double escape within the framework of hyperspherical coordinates. A particularly useful set of hyperspherical angles has been used. It is well known for many years that the hyperradial motion is nearly separable from the hyperspherical angular motion. Therefore, the Born-Oppenheimer separation method should be useful. However, the success of that method in molecular physics is based on the small mass ratio, electron mass to nuclear mass. In the atomic application such a small parameter does not exist. Nevertheless the method works surprisingly well in the lower part of the spectrum. For increasing excitation energy the method becomes shaky. Near ionization threshold, it breaks even down. The author will present elsewhere an improved Born-Oppenheimer method. First pilot developments and comparison with the experimental situation are presented already here. Inclusion of a momentum-momentum radial coupling delivers an improved basis. We show that our extended Born-Oppenheimer approach leads to a deformation of the whole potential energy surface during the collision. In consequence of this deformation we outline a quantum derivation of the Wannier threshold cross section law, and we show that (e, 2e) angular distribution data are strongly influenced by that surface deformation. Finally, we present a mechanism for electron pair formation and decay leading to a supercurrent independent of the temperature. Our framework can be extended to more than two electrons, say 3 or 4. We conclude that our improved Born-Oppenheimer method [1] is expected not only to deliver better numerical data, but it is expected to describe also the Wannier phenomenon. The idea of the new theory together with first qualitative results is presented in this paper.