Effect of Breit interaction on resonant excitation of highly charged heavyions

Resonant excitation or resonant electron scattering is a two step process i n which Auger rates are involved in both steps. First an electron is captur ed into a bound state and a bound electron is excited (inverse Auger effect ). Then an Auger transition leads to the emission of the electron from the ion. The corresponding cross-sections are very sensitive to the Auger rates and allow a detailed study of the Breit interaction which is a current-cur rent contribution to the static electron-electron interaction. The contribu tion of the Breit interaction to the cross-section of resonant excitation o n hydrogen-like uranium ions is discussed and shown that it is roughly twic e as large as in the case of dielectronic recombination.