Ionization of Atomic Hydrogen by Low Energy Antiprotons

最简单的原子（氢或其同位素氘）被反质子去电子或电离的截面，目前是相当感兴趣的。这是检验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，在碰撞过程后检测到与反质子重合的氢离子是电离过程的标志。因此，反质子氢碰撞系统是检验我们对电离中涉及的少体库仑物理的理论理解的理想系统。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用于材料的工业处理，特别是影响其表面性质，并广泛用于半导体工业。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“清洁”能源的可能性，以取代化石燃料，并缓解当前发电站二氧化碳排放造成的全球变暖。我们对这种简单碰撞系统电离机制的理解应该使当前理论模型向前迈出重要一步。

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.