Ionization of Atomic Hydrogen by Low Energy Antiprotons

最简单的原子（氢或它的同位素氘）被反质子除去电子或电离的截面，目前引起了相当大的兴趣。这是测试理论的最简单的碰撞系统，只有一个活跃的电子，因为反质子不能捕获电子，在碰撞过程后与反质子重合的氢离子的检测是电离过程的标志。因此，反质子氢碰撞系统是一个理想的系统，用来测试我们对电离中涉及的少体库仑物理的理论理解。电离是天体物理和技术等离子体以及地球大气中分子解离的重要过程。技术等离子体越来越多地应用于材料的工业加工，特别是影响其表面性能，并广泛应用于半导体工业。氢同位素受控等离子体聚变产生的能量为我们提供了一种替代化石燃料的“清洁”能源的可能性，并缓解了当前发电站二氧化碳排放造成的全球变暖。我们对这样一个简单碰撞系统的电离机制的理解将使目前的理论模型向前迈出重要的一步。

The cross section for electron removal or ionization of the simplest atom (hydrogen or its isotope deuterium), by antiprotons, is of currently of considerable interest. This is the simplest collision system for testing theory with only one active electron and, since the antiproton cannot capture an electron, the detection of a hydrogen ion in coincidence with an antiproton after the collision process is a signature of the ionization process. The antiproton hydrogen collision system is therefore an ideal system against which to test our theoretical understanding of the few-body Coulomb physics involved in ionization.Ionization is an important process in astrophysical and technological plasmas and in the dissociation of molecules in the Earth's atmosphere. Technological plasmas are increasingly used in industrial proceessing of materials, particularly to effect their surface properties and are widely used in the semiconductor industry. Energy from controlled plasma fusion of hydrogen isotopes presents us with the possibility of a 'clean' energy source to replace fossil fuels and to alleviate global warming resulting from carbon dioxide emissions from current generation power stations.Our understanding of the ionization mechanism in such a simple collision system should enable an important step forward in current theoretical models.