Theoretical investigation of total and state-dependent charge exchange in O6 + collisions with atomic hydrogen

Abstract

The charge exchange process has been found to play a dominant role in the production of x-rays and/or extreme ultraviolet photons emitted from cometary and planetary atmospheres and from the heliosphere. Charge exchange cross sections, especially state-selective cross sections, are necessary parameters in simulations of this x-ray emission. In this study, charge exchange, or single-electron capture, due to collisions of ground state O6 +(1s2 1S) with atomic hydrogen has been investigated theoretically using the quantum-mechanical molecular-orbital close-coupling method (QMOCC). The multi-reference single- and double-excitation configuration interaction approach has been applied to compute the adiabatic potentials and nonadiabatic couplings, and the atomic basis sets used have been optimized with a method proposed previously to obtain accurate descriptions of the high-lying Rydberg states of highly charged ions. Total and final-state-selective cross sections are calculated for energies between 0.1 eV/u and 10 keV/u. The QMOCC results are compared to available experimental and theoretical data as well as to new atomic-orbital close-coupling (AOCC) and classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) calculations. A recommended set of cross sections, based on the QMOCC, AOCC and CTMC calculations, and existing data, are deduced which should aid in x-ray emission modelling studies.