Photodetachment and photoionization rainbows and glories

Abstract

Quantum scattering has many similarities with the physics of the atmospheric rainbow. Diffraction effects, including rainbows and glories, have long been introduced in the physics of scattering, and particularly in nuclear, atomic and molecular physics. In this paper we describe the striking similarity between the optics of the primary rainbow and supernumerary bows and photodetachment microscopy, with the latter term referring to the photodetachment of a structureless anion in the presence of a static electric field. Further, we extend the aforementioned analogy to the more complex and fertile case of photoionization microscopy. Despite the fact that in the latter situation the analogy is only approximate, we demonstrate the emergence of additional features that are also found in classical optics, like higher-order bows and glories. Finally, based on the conclusions drawn from the above analyses, we discuss the significant contribution of glories in threshold photoelectron spectroscopy.