Diffusion-transport cross section and stopping power of swift heavy ions -art. no. 052903

The stopping power of swift heavy ions in both cold and plasma targets is e xpressed by a single formula from which the standard classical or quantum r esults are retrieved as specific limits. It is based on 3 modified Bloch co rrection term devoted to correctly describe the close collisions contributi on to the energy-loss process. This correction term is deduced from the con vergent kinetic theory (CKT) derived by Gould and DeWitt for calculating tr ansport coefficients in dense plasmas. The CKT is adapted to neutral target s by using the scaling properties of Yukawa potentials demonstrated by Lind hard. The resulting CKLT stopping expression can be applied to partially io nized heavy ions with a non-Coulomb electron-ion interaction potential. The differences between the CKLT and standard stopping models are investigated in the binary approximation, where the CKLT formula yields the exact resul t. The usefulness of the CKLT procedure in stopping power applications is t hen demonstrated using the spherical harmonic oscillator as a target model, The validity domain of the CKLT is analyzed by comparing the results deriv ed by adding the close collision correction term either to the Born I resul t or to a classical calculation. The classical result is obtained by follow ing during a collision, the time evolution of the Wigner distribution.