AUGER DECAY OF HOLLOW NITROGEN-ATOMS

We present calculations of autoionization lifetimes for 'hollow' nitro gen atoms with and without a core of one or two 1s electrons. We have observed a very similar pattern in the N dependence of the lifetimes f or all 1s(M)np(N) configurations with M = 0, 1 and 2, n = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10 and N = 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Also some 1snl(N) configurations with l not equal 1 have been considered as well as configurations wit h mixed values of n. For configurations with all the electrons in the same n shell we have found that the average lifetime in neutral system s is very short, typically of the order of 3-5 x 10(-16) s for n = 3 t o 7. The same applies to configurations with mixed values of n (of the order of 1-6 x 10(-15) s for n = 3 to 7). We find that the importance of electron correlation increases dramatically with n and N but that the average autoionization decay rates do not change. The configuratio ns studied are of interest, for example, in the study of processes tha t occur during neutralization of highly charged nitrogen ions at surfa ces.