What We've Learned about World War II

Herman B Wells Distinguished Lecture of the Institute and Society for Advanced Study given on September 29, 2006

Electron-Impact Ionization of Laser-Aligned Atoms -- Contributions from Both Natural and Unnatural-Parity States

Synopsis. The progress of experimental and theoretical measurements for (e,2e) ionization cross sections from laser-aligned atoms is presented here. It is found that both natural and unnatural parity contributions must be included in the models to emulate the experimental data

Natural & unnatural-parity contributions in electron-impact ionization of laser-aligned atoms

Differential cross section measurements from laser-aligned Mg atoms are compared to theoretical calculations using both time dependent and time-independent formalisms. It is found that both natural and unnatural parity contributions to the calculated cross sections are required to emulate the data when the state is aligned out of the scattering plane

Four-Body Model for Transfer Excitation

We present here a four-body model for transfer-excitation collisions, which we call the four-body transfer-excitation (4BTE) model. Each two-body interaction is explicitly included in the 4BTE model, allowing us to study the effects of individual two-body interactions. We apply our model to fully differential cross sections for proton+helium collisions, and study the effect of the incident projectile-atom interaction, the scattered projectile-ion interaction, the projectile-nuclear interaction, and electron correlation within the target atom

Low Energy (e,2e) Coincidence Studies of NH₃: Results from Experiment and Theory

Experimental and theoretical triple differential cross sections (TDCS) from ammonia are presented in the low energy regime with outgoing electron energies from 20 eV down to 1.5 eV. Ionization measurements from the 3a1, 1e1, and 2a1 molecular orbitals were taken in a coplanar geometry. Data from the 3a1 and 1e1 orbitals were also obtained in a perpendicular plane geometry. The data are compared to predictions from the distorted wave Born approximation and molecular-three-body distorted wave models. The cross sections for the 3a1 and 1e1 orbitals that have p-like character were found to be similar, and were different to that of the 2a1 orbital which has s-like character. These observations are not reproduced by theory, which predicts the structure of the TDCS for all orbitals should be similar. Comparisons are also made to results from experiment and theory for the iso-electronic targets neon and methane

Electron-impact-ionization cross sections of H₂ for low outgoing electron energies from 1 to 10 eV

Theoretical and experimental fully differential cross sections are presented for electron-impact ionization of molecular hydrogen in a plane perpendicular to the incident beam direction. The experimental data exhibit a maximum for 1-eV electrons detected 180° apart and a minimum for 10-eV electrons. We investigate the different physical effects which cause back-to-back scattering and demonstrate that, over the energy range from 10 to 1 eV, a direct transition is observed from a region where Wannier threshold physics is essentially unimportant to where it completely dominates

First Evidence of Interference Effects in the Ionization of N₂ Molecule

We will present an experimental and theoretical investigation of triple differential cross sections for electron- impact ionization of nitrogen molecules at intermediate energies. A discussion of interference effects contained in the theoretical and experimental interference factors will be presented

Theoretical and experimental(e,2e)study of electron-impact ionization of laser-aligned Mg atoms

We have performed calculations of the fully differential cross sections for electron impact ionization of magnesium atoms. Three theoretical approximations, the time dependent close coupling (TDCC), the three body distorted wave (3DW), and the Distorted Wave Born Approximation (DWBA), are compared with experiment in this article. Results will be shown for ionization of the 3s ground state of Mg for both asymmetric and symmetric coplanar geometries. Results will also be shown for ionization of the 3p state which has been excited by a linearly-polarized laser which produces a charge cloud aligned perpendicular to the laser beam direction and parallel to the linear polarization. Theoretical and experimental results will be compared for several different alignment angles, both in the scattering plane as well as in the plane perpendicular to the incident beam direction

Low Energy (e,2e) Studies from CH₄: Results from Symmetric Coplanar Experiments and Molecular Three-Body Distorted Wave Theory

Low energy experimental and theoretical triply differential cross sections are presented for electron impact ionization of methane (CH4) for both the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and next highest occupied molecular orbital (NHOMO). The HOMO is a predominantly p-type orbital which is labeled 1t2 and the NHOMO is predominantly s-type labeled 2a 1. Coplanar symmetric (symmetric both in final state electron energies and observation angles) are presented for final state electron energies ranging from 2.5 to 20 eV. The theoretical M3DW (molecular three-body distorted wave) results are in surprisingly good agreement with experiment for the HOMO state and less satisfactory agreement for the NHOMO state. The molecular NHOMO results are also compared with the ionization of the 2s shell of neon which is the isoelectronic atom

Experimental and Theoretical (e,2e) Ionization Cross Sections for a Hydrogen Target at 75.3 eV Incident Energy in a Coplanar Asymmetric Geometry

Very recently it was shown that the molecular three-body distorted wave (M3DW) approach gives good agreement with the shape of the experimental data for electron-impact ionization of H2 in a coplanar symmetric geometry, providing the incident electrons have an energy of 35 eV or greater. One of the weaknesses of these studies was that only the shape of the cross section could be compared to experiment, since there was no absolute or relative normalization of the data. Here we report a joint experimental/theoretical study of electron-impact ionization of H2 in a coplanar asymmetric geometry where the energy of the incident electron was fixed, and different pairs of final state electron energies were used. In this case, the experimental data can be normalized such that only one renormalization factor is required. It is shown that the M3DW is pretty good in agreement with experiment. However, a better treatment of polarization and exchange between the continuum and bound state electrons is required before quantitative agreement between experiment and theory is achieved