Electron-impact ionization of atomic hydrogen: dynamical variational treatment

Abstract

A simple and straightforward calculating scheme is proposed for electron-impact single and multiple ionization of atoms. The method is based on the application of the Hulthen-Kohn dynamical variational principle. An effective charge seen by the scattered electron is determined for a certain type of trial wave functions mathematically in a rigorous way excluding any empirical assumptions. Validity of the elaborated approach is assessed by calculating triply differential cross section (TDCS) for electron-impact ionization of hydrogen. It is shown that, inclusion of the effective charge into the calculation reduces height of a “binary peak” in comparison with the first Born approximation result. The height of a “recoil peak” depends on the sign of the effective charge. The calculated TDCS are compared with the available experimental data and with the results of sophisticated theories and agreement is found.