Abstract
A time-dependent many-body theory is developed for the study of spin-polarized electron capture spectroscopy. As a model system we choose the head-on collision of protons with a nickel atom. For the electronic part of the Hamiltonian we use the most general on-site interaction terms allowed by atomic symmetry. The total electronic many-body states are group-theoretically classified with respect to the conserved quantum numbers L, L z and S z. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation for this system is solved exactly. The zero-, one- and two- electron capture probabilities which are treated on the same footing are monitored along the trajectories of the scattering species on the femtosecond time scale. In good agreement with experiments on surfaces we find probabilities of 22% and 0.33% for one- and two-electron capture respectively and spin polarizations between -60% and -100%. The predominant capture of minority electrons is enhanced due to electronic correlations. This implies that the probing of magnetism occurs on a significantly longer time scale than the probing of single electron properties.
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