Abstract:
An analysis is made of the capture of electrons by excited states of an ion in collisions of atoms with multiply charged ions ($Z\gtrsim10$). General expressions are obtained for the transition probabilities and cross sections of one-electron charge exchange and allowance is made for the strong coupling of the initial and final states of an atom$+$ion system. The capture cross section of an ion level with a binding energy exceeding the ionization potential of an atom is found to have two separate maxima along the energy scale. The total charge-exchange cross section in the range of energies of relative motion $1-10^5$ eV/nucleon is proportional to $Z^2$, where $Z$ is the ion charge. The results of calculations are in quantitative agreement with the published experimental results. It is shown that the two-electron capture cross section is smaller than the one-electron cross section and that in the $Z\ge10$ range an unstable excited state of an ion decays preferentially by the emission of radiation.
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