Ionization of Atomic Hydrogen by Low Energy Antiprotons

最简单的原子(氢或其同位素氢)被反质子去除电子或电离的截面目前引起了相当大的兴趣。对于只有一个活跃电子的理论测试来说，这是最简单的碰撞系统，由于反质子不能捕获一个电子，在碰撞过程后检测到与反质子一致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涉及电离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层中分子解离的一个重要过程。技术等离子体越来越多地用于材料的工业加工，特别是影响材料的表面性质，并在半导体工业中得到广泛应用。氢同位素的受控等离子体聚变为我们提供了替代化石燃料的清洁能源的可能性，并缓解了由当前发电发电站排放的二氧化碳造成的全球变暖。我们对这种简单碰撞系统中的电离机制的理解应该会使当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.