Positron scattering by rubidium and caesium

Abstract

We report results in the energy range 0.5 to 64 eV for positron scattering by ground state rubidium and caesium in and coupled-state approximations, respectively. The pattern of results is similar to analogous calculations made on potassium by McAlinden et al. Except at the lowest energies, positronium formation is found to be almost entirely into excited states, with there being a dramatic collapse of the Ps(1s) cross section in the case of caesium. Ps(n=2), Ps(n=3) and cross sections are predicted to be of comparable size. formation is estimated from the calculated Ps(n=3) results using the scaling rule. Good agreement in shape and magnitude is obtained with the recent lower bound measurements of total positronium formation in rubidium by Surdutovich et al, although there are differences in detail. Good agreement is also achieved with the total cross section measurements of Parikh et al on rubidium after these have been corrected for discrimination against forward elastic scattering and renormalized upwards by 5%. These total cross section measurements display a pronounced peak near 6 eV which is well reproduced by the present theory but is at variance with the earlier Rb(5s,5p,6s,6p,4d) calculations of McEachran et al which neglect positronium formation. This peak, which also appears in the calculations on potassium and caesium, is primarily associated with the maximum in the total positronium formation cross section. At low energies elastic scattering is dominant, this dominance being directly taken over by the resonance excitation of the atom with increasing impact energy. The next most important cross section is positronium formation, followed by excitation of the lowest atomic d-state. The and transitions in rubidium and the and transitions in caesium are of relatively minor importance.