Ionization and electron capture in collisions of bare carbon ions with hydrogen

Abstract

Ionization and electron capture in collisions of bare carbon ions with atomic hydrogen has been studied using the wave-packet continuum discretization approach. The three-body Schrödinger equation governing the collision process is solved using the two-center expansion of the total scattering wave function. Calculations have been performed for the projectile energy range from 1 keV/amu to 10 MeV/amu. While there is excellent agreement with experimental data for the total electron-capture cross section over the entire energy range, the calculated total ionization cross section slightly overestimates the only available measured point. The singly and doubly differential ionization cross sections at 1 and 2.5 MeV/amu are in good agreement with experiment. The differential cross section calculations are extended to lower energies where perturbative methods are expected to fail. At 100 keV/amu impact energy the present singly differential cross section in the ejected angle of the electron shows a pronounced peak in the forward direction. It is concluded that at low incident energies electron capture into the continuum of the projectile strongly enhances electron ejection in the forward direction.