Fm. Penkov, MECHANISMS FOR LONG-RANGE FORCES IN THE 3 ATOMS PLUS ELECTRON-SYSTEM, Journal of experimental and theoretical physics, 84(4), 1997, pp. 678-681
The Born-Oppenheimer approximation is used to obtain an equation for t
he effective interaction of three atoms bound by a single electron. Fo
r low binding energies long-range forces arise between the atoms in an
''electron+atom pair'' that lead to bound states when the size of the
three-atom cluster is several tens of angstroms. A system made up of
alkali metal atoms is considered as an example. (C) 1997 American Inst
itute of Physics.