Collisional Breakup in a Quantum System of Three Charged Particles
T. N. Rescigno,
1
M. Baertschy,
2
W.
A. Isaacs,
3
C. W. McCurdy
23
Since the invention of quantum mechanics, even the
simplest example of the collisional breakup of a system of charged
particles, e
+ H 
H+ + e + e (where e is an
electron and H is hydrogen), has resisted solution and is now one of
the last unsolved fundamental problems in atomic physics. A complete
solution requires calculation of the energies and directions for a
final state in which all three particles are moving away from each
other. Even with supercomputers, the correct mathematical description
of this state has proved difficult to apply. A framework for solving
ionization problems in many areas of chemistry and physics is finally
provided by a mathematical transformation of the Schrödinger
equation that makes the final state tractable, providing the key to a
numerical solution of this problem that reveals its full dynamics.
1 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
Physics Directorate, Livermore, CA 94551, USA.
2 Department of Applied Science, University of
California, Davis, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
3 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Computing
Sciences, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
