Dynamics of two-electron excitations in helium

Abstract

Excitation of both electrons in helium offers a unique window for studying electron correlation at the most basic level in an atom in which these two electrons and the nucleus form a three-body system. The authors utilized the first light available at the U-8 undulator-SGM monochromator beamline to investigate the dynamic parameters, partial cross sections, differential cross sections, and photoelectron angular distribution parameters ({beta}), with a high resolving power for the photon beam and at the highly differential level afforded by the use of their electron spectrometer. In parallel, they carried out detailed calculations of the relevant properties by a theoretical approach that is based on the hyperspherical close-coupling method. Partial photoionization cross sections {sigma}{sub n}, and photoelectron angular distributions {beta}{sub n} were measured for all possible final ionic states He{sup +}(n) in the region of the double excitations N(K,T){sup A} up to the N=5 threshold. At a photon energy bandpass of 12 meV below the thresholds N=3, 4, and 5, this level of differentiation offers the most critical assessment of the dynamics of the two-electron excitations to date. The experimental data were seen to be very well described by the most advanced theoretical calculations.