State-selective and total cross sections for electron capture from the K-shell of multi-electron atoms by fully stripped projectiles

Abstract

Capture of a K-shell electron by bare fast ions H+, He2+ and Li3+ from multi-electron atomic targets (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, neon and argon) is theoretically studied by means of the four-body boundary-corrected first Born approximation. In a wide impact energy interval ranging from 100 to 40 000 keV/amu, extensive tables of the obtained state-selective cross sections Qnlm are presented for each individual final hydrogen-like state described by the usual quantum numbers {n,l,m}. The total cross sections Qnl, Qn and Qtot for capture summed over the quantum numbers m, {l,m} and {n,l,m}, respectively, are also reported. Theoretical cross sections Qtot are found to compare favorably with the corresponding experimental data. The maximal value of the principal quantum number n has been taken to be n=4, which satisfies the relationship n≥ZP, where ZP is the nuclear charge of the projectile. The tabulated state-selective cross sections Qnlm for single-electron capture by swift nuclei from multi-electron atoms are the first results in the literature on the theory of four-body collisions. The present data for the examined capture processes are of notable interest for many fundamental and applied problems in various interdisciplinary fields ranging from fusion research, plasma physics, astrophysics to radiotherapy.