RADIATIVE DOUBLE-ELECTRON CAPTURE IN HEAVY-ION ATOM COLLISIONS

Total cross sections for radiative double electron capture (RDEC) in c ollisions of fast highly charged ions with light target atoms were est imated. The applied method is based on the principle of detailed balan ce using the cross sections for the double photoionization process. Pr eliminary results of a dedicated RDEC experiment aiming at the observa tion of photons with twice the single REC photon energy, associated wi th double charge exchange, are discussed. Additionally, results of com plementary measurements of double capture (without photon registration ) by fully stripped U ions in collisions with C atoms at 295 MeV/u are presented. Here, a surprisingly enhanced cross section for double ele ctron capture is found in accordance with observations reported in the literature.