Eur. Phys. J. D 64, 303-310 (2011)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2011-20285-x

Regular Article

Electron-impact ionization of atomic hydrogen: dynamical variational treatment

¹ Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, Université Catholique de Louvain, Chemin du Cyclotron 2, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
² Department of Exact and Natural Sciences, Tbilisi State University, Chavchavadze Avenue 3, 0179 Tbilisi, Georgia

^a e-mail: tamaz.kereselidze@tsu.ge

Received: 16 May 2011
Received in final form: 21 July 2011
Published online: 11 October 2011

Abstract

A simple and straightforward calculating scheme is proposed for electron-impact single and multiple ionization of atoms. The method is based on the application of the Hulthén-Kohn dynamical variational principle. An effective charge seen by the scattered electron is determined for a certain type of trial wave functions mathematically in a rigorous way excluding any empirical assumptions. Validity of the elaborated approach is assessed by calculating triply differential cross section (TDCS) for electron-impact ionization of hydrogen. It is shown that, inclusion of the effective charge into the calculation reduces height of a “binary peak” in comparison with the first Born approximation result. The height of a “recoil peak” depends on the sign of the effective charge. The calculated TDCS are compared with the available experimental data and with the results of sophisticated theories and agreement is found.