Electron transfer from atomic hydrogen to multiply-charged nuclei at intermediate and high energies

Abstract

We report on theoretical total cross sections for electron capture from the ground state of atomic hydrogen H(1s) by fast multiply-charged nuclei H+,He2+,Li3+,Be4+,B5+,C6+,N7+,O8+ and F9+. The prior form of the boundary-corrected continuum intermediate states (BCIS) method is used. For a single fixed initial ground-state (i=1s), comprehensive computations are carried out for a sequence of the transitions to the final state (n,l,m) with 1≤n≤nmax, including all the energy degenerate sub-levels (−l≤m≤l,0≤l≤n−1). The maximal quantum number nmax is respectively set to 4 for H+,He2+ and Li3+, to 5 for Be4+, to 6 for B5+, as well as to 7 for C6+,N7+,O8+ and F9+. The reported nine tables provide these state-selective cross sections (Qif) and their state-summed counterparts (QΣ). The cross sections QΣ for the sum over all the final states are evaluated using the exact results of Qif for n≤nmax and the scaled cross sections for n>nmax. The scaling is based on the Oppenheimer n−3 rule. In addition to these tables, at the same impact energies 20–3000 keV/amu, the cross sections from the BCIS method are presented graphically in eight figures for the nuclei Li3+,Be4+,B5+,C6+,N7+,O8+ and F9+. This complements our recently published cross sections for electron capture by protons (H+) and alpha particles (He2+) from H(1s). In the present figures, whenever available, the corresponding experimental data are compared with our results for QΣ. Also included in these comparisons are the corresponding results for QΣ from the continuum distorted wave (CDW) method. The cross sections tabulated here can be used in versatile applications ranging from plasma physics and astrophysics through fusion research to ion therapy.