[Electron transfer, ionization, and excitation in atomic collisions]. Final technical report, June 15, 1986--June 14, 1998

The research on theoretical atomic collisions that was funded at The Pennsylvania State University`s Wilkes-Barre Campus by DOE from 1986 to 1998 was carried out by Winger from 1986 to 1989 and by Winter and Alston from 1989 to 1998. The fundamental processes of electron transfer, ionization, and excitation in ion-ion, ion-atom, and, more recently, ion-molecule collisions were addressed. These collision processes were treated in the context of simple one-electron, quasi-one-electron, or two-electron systems in order to provide unambiguous results and reveal more clearly the collisional mechanisms. Winter`s work generally focused on the intermediate projectile-energy range corresponding to proton energies from about ten to a few hundred keV. In this velocity-matching energy range, the electron-transfer cross section reaches a peak, and many states, including electron-transfer and ionization states, contribute to the overall electron-cloud distribution and transition probabilities; a large number of states are coupled, and therefore perturbative approaches are generally inappropriate. These coupled-state calculations were sometimes also extended to higher energies to join with perturbative results. Alston concentrated on intermediate-energy asymmetric collision systems, for which coupling with the projectile is weaker, but many target states are included, and on high energies (MeV energies). Thus, while perturbation theory for electron transfer is valid, it is not adequate to first order. The studies by Winter and Alston described were often done in parallel. Alston also developed formal perturbative approaches not tied to any particular system. Materials studied included He{sup +}, Li{sup 2+}, Be{sup 3+}, B{sup 4+}, C{sup 5+}, and the H{sup +} + Na system