Sp. Lucey et al., On the use of analytic ansatz three-body wave functions in the study of (e,2e) and related processes, P ROY SOC A, 455(1981), 1999, pp. 349-383
Citations number
51
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary
Journal title
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES
We present a critical analysis of the analytic ansatz wave functions that h
ave been proposed for use in the calculation of triple-differential cross-s
ections for the electron-impact ionization of atoms. We will first discuss,
in detail, the mathematical background to these approximations, and we wil
l give, for the first time, cross-sections for the electron-impact ionizati
on of hydrogen using the most elaborate of these. We will show that they gi
ve generally unsatisfactory agreement with experiment. We will argue that t
his failure comes from an inability to model the crucial region where the t
hree particles are close together. The analysis presented should be of valu
e not only in the case of electron-impact ionization but also for a wide ra
nge of Coulombic three-body problems in atomic physics.