Elastic and electron capture processes in slow He⁺–He collision

Abstract

Aims. The elastic and electron-capture processes of He+ ions with ground helium atoms are very important for studies in astrophysics. It is essential to have reliable state-selective charge transfer, elastic, and transport cross-sections, along with the corresponding reaction rate coefficient data, especially for low collision energies. Methods. We investigated the elastic and non-radiative electron-capture processes in He+(1s)–He(1s2) collisions are investigated employing the full quantum-mechanical molecular orbital close-coupling method. The adopted ab initio adiabatic potentials and coupling matrix elements were obtained by a multi-reference single- and double-excitation configuration interaction approach. Results. We computed the elastic, charge-transfer, and transport cross-sections in the energy range of 0.01–2500eVamu−1 and the reaction rate coefficient in the temperature range of 10–109 K. Good agreement was achieved when compared to the available experimental and theoretical results. Shape resonance, Regge, and Glory oscillations were also found in the elastic and charge transfer cross-sections in the energy region considered here.