Stability of negatively charged ions moving in a magnetic field

In a magnetic field the center of mass (c.m.) motion of an atom or molecule couples to the electronic motion. It is demonstrated that this coupling dramatically influences the properties of negative ions. Neglecting c.m. effects the external field gives rise to a series of infinitely many bound states of the ion. Center of mass effects terminate this series and turn bound states into short-lived resonance states. Whether bound states exist at all, their number and properties as well as the lifetimes of the resonance states depend on the neutral system to which an electron is attached, and on the magnetic field.

Interatomic coulombic decay in van der waals clusters and impact of nuclear motion

It is demonstrated that excited van der Waals systems can relax by electron emission via a novel interatomic mechanism. The process is analyzed by means of extensive ab initio calculations of potential energy surfaces and electronic decay rates. The electronic emission, taking place on the same time scale as the motion of the atomic nuclei, is accompanied by interesting dynamical effects amenable to experimental observations. These effects arise as a consequence of the weak chemical bond in van der Waals clusters and the Coulomb repulsion pattern originating from electron emission.

Optical potentials for inelastic scattering from many-body targets

The standard text book Green's function possesses a self-energy that is known to be an optical potential for elastic scattering. The introduction of an optical potential reduces the complex many-body scattering problem into a tractable one-body problem. In this paper inelastic Green's functions are introduced and discussed which possess self-energies that are optical potentials for inelastic scattering. If the projectile is indistinguishable from particles comprising the target, intriguing aspects arise even for noninteracting particles.