Positron and Positronium Collisions with Simple Atoms

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Two projects are to be performed in the area of theoretical atomic physics. The first project involves using a well established method to study low-energy scattering of an exotic atom, positronium (Ps), from the conventional atoms hydrogen (H) and lithium (Li). This project is of interest since Ps-H scattering is a fundamental four-body Coulomb process and Ps-Li scattering is an effective four-body Coulomb process. A graduate student will work on the project for his Ph. D. dissertation. The project involves an international collaboration with Dr. Peter Van Reeth, who is in London, UK. The second project concerns the search of vortices for positron-hydrogen ionization. It is timely due to the recent explanation of the previously unexplained minimum in results for electron-impact ionization of helium and the development of positron reaction microscopes. The project is in collaboration with Dr. Joseph Macek and Dr. Serge Ovchinnikov who are at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.Positronium scattering has applications in astrophysics, biophysics and condensed matter and vortices are important in many fields of physics such as fluid dynamics, astrophysics, condensed matter and nonlinear dynamics. The plan is to present results through publication, at national conferences and at an international conference. To provide the graduate student a broad exposure to inquiry-based and other pedagogical methods, the graduate student will assist Teach North Texas (TNT), a program at UNT that prepares future secondary mathematics and science teachers. Novel program features developed by TNT will be disseminated at conferences concerning teacher preparation for science and mathematics.