The calculation of cross sections for inelastic and charge-exchange atomic collisions encounters a principal difficulty. The coordinates used to describe the collision event are usually not appropriate for the description of the collision partners long before and after the collision. As a consequence, the coupling matrix elements that govern inelastic transitions can remain nonzero for large internuclear distance. We present a simple procedure to deal with this situation in the framework of a full quantum-mechanical treatment. It applies to radial as well as rotational coupling mechanisms. We demonstrate the practical applicability by numerical examples.
Experimental results for the integral cross sxtions forthe emission of Na(3p-3s) and Na(4p-3s) light after H + N a collisions at energies from 15 to 1500eVare reponed. The data are compared with model predictions.
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