U.S.-Denmark Collaborative Research on Collisions of Ions with Circular-State Atoms

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This award supports Professor Keith MacAdam and others of his research group at the University of Kentucky to collaborate in physics research with Professor E. Horsdal- Pedersen of the Institute of Physics, University of Aarhus, Denmark. They will investigate the collisions of singly charged ions on a target of highly excited Rydberg atoms in states of maximum angular momentum, called circular-states. Methods for creating these states have recently been developed, but there has been virtually no investigation yet of their collisional properties. This proposed ground breaking work requires the combination of expertise found in the two collaborating groups and the unique facilities of the Institute of Physics at Aarhus. The U.S. group contributes substantial expertise in ion-Rydberg atom collisions and various analytical techniques. The Danish investigator is a first class researcher in electron capture processes and circular state production. The collision measurements will be carried out using lasers and low energy ion beams at the Danish Institute, where the necessary circular-state collision target is being installed in a dedicated scattering apparatus. This project will elucidate new phenomena in electron capture and angular-momentum changing collisions at intermediate velocities. No collision studies of high angular momentum or circular state Rydberg atoms with incident ions have ever been done. The observation of an alignment dependence in charge transfer is very new, even for the lowest non-isotropic state of a target, and it is expected to stimulate new interactions between theory and experiment. The opportunity to bring together the newest techniques and researchers uniquely accomplished in the required areas for a study of the "Three Body Problem" at the boundary of quantum and classical mechanics is an outstanding opportunity for scientific progress.