Environment-assisted electron capture

Abstract

Energy transfer between atoms and molecules mediates numerous elementary processes. During the talk, I will present a recently discovered long range high energy transfer mechanism, namely the Interatomic Coulombic Electron Capture (ICEC). ICEC is an environment assisted process in which a free electron can efficiently attach to an ion, atom or molecule. In ICEC, the excess energy of the electron attachment is transferred to a neighbour which is thus ionised. ICEC is an ultrafast process driven by the electronic correlation between two quantum objects. I will first give an overview on our current knowledge on this relevant process. I will then summarise the theoretical development and the studies our group has recently made to push forward our understanding of ICEC.