U.S.-Mexico Collaborative Research: Angular Scattering in Highly Excited Rydberg Atom Formation

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This award will support collaborative research between Prof. Thomas J. Morgan of Wesleyan University and Dr. C. Cisneros of the Institute of Physics of the National Autonomous University in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The researchers intend to study differential scattering processes in highly excited atom formation via collisions of hydrogen ions with neutral gaseous targets. These measurements should yield the first experimental determination of the differential scattering cross section for fast, highly excited atom formation and should provide a basis for understanding the collision mechanisms involved. While there exists a large body of information on the formation of highly excited Rydberg atoms via electron capture collisions in the keV energy range, formation via electron detachment from a hydrogen ion has only recently been studied and interesting differences between these two processes have been noted. This award will serve to continue a successful collaboration to which the U.S. PI brings his expertise with highly excited atom experiments and the Mexican side its experience with differential scattering measurements.