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Lower bound to limiting fields in nonlinear electrodynamics
(1973)
- In view of new high-precision experiments in atomic physics it seems necessary to reexamine nonlinear theories of electrodynamics. The precise calculation of electronic and muonic atomic energies has been used to determine the possible size of the upper limit Emax to the electric field strength, which has been assumed to be a parameter. This is opposed to Born's idea of a purely electromagnetic origin of the electron's mass which determines Emax. We find Emax≥1.7×1020 V/cm.
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Direct formation of quasimolecular 1s sigma vacancies in uranium-uranium collisions
(1976)
- The direct (Coulomb) formation of electron vacancies in the 1sσ state of superheavy quasimolecules is investigated for the first time. Its dependence on the impact parameter, projectile energy, and its contribution from excitations into the continum and higher bound states are determined.
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Internal pair formation following coulomb excitation of heavy nuclei
(1976)
- Internal conversion of γ rays from Coulomb-excited nuclear levels cannot be neglected compared with the spontaneous and induced positron production in overcritical electric fields. It is shown that both processes are separable by their different distributions with respect to the ion angle and the positron energy.
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Shakeoff of the vacuum polarization in quasimolecular collisions of very heavy ions
(1977)
- The theory of direct electron-positron pair production in the collision of heavy ions is formulated in the framework of the quasimolecular model. The pair production process acquires a collective nature for (Z1+Z2)α>1 and can be understood as the shakeoff of the strong vacuum polarization cloud formed in the quasimolecule. The total cross section is, e.g., 76 μb for Pb + Pb at Coulomb barrier energies.
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Inner-shell ionization induced by nuclear Coulomb excitation in collisions of very heavy ions
(1978)
- K- and L-shell ionization of 238U with Xe and U projectiles is investigated. Internal conversion following nuclear Coulomb excitation which is particularly important for deformed heavy nuclei is compared with direct ionization of inner-shell electrons in superheavy quasimolecules. Both processes exhibit different impact-parameter dependences. As a result of internal conversion, about 0.1-0.3 K holes per central collision are created.
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Spectroscopy of electronic states in superheavy quasimolecules
(1978)
- We show that information about quasimolecular electronic binding energies in transient atomic systems of Z=Z1+Z2 up to 184 can be obtained from three sources: (1) the impact-parameter dependence of the ionization probability; (2) the ionization probability in head-on collisions as a function of total nuclear charge Z; (3) the delta-electron spectrum in coincidence with K-vacancy formation in asymmetric collisions. Experiments are proposed and discussed.
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Electrons in superheavy quasimolecules
(1979)
- Binding energies and wave functions of inner-shell electronic states in superheavy quasimolecules with (Zp+Zt)α>1 are calculated. Ionization during a collision of very heavy ions is investigated within a molecular basis generated by the solutions of the two-center Dirac equation. Transitions to vacant bound states as well as direct excitation to the continuum are taken into account. We present theoretical values for the ionization probability as a function of impact parameter, bombarding energy, and combined nuclear charge. Our computed results are compared with recent experimental data. It is suggested that relativistic binding energies of electrons in superheavy quasimolecules can be determined experimentally via the impact-parameter dependence of ionization and the anisotropy of quasimolecular radiation.
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Delta-electron emission in deep-inelastic heavy-ion collisions
(1980)
- This paper reports calculations of the influence of a reaction time T>10-21 s in deep-inelastic Xe-Pb collisions on the energy spectrum of δ electrons ejected in the same collision. It is shown that the lifetime of the superheavy composite system causes pronounced oscillations of width ε=h/T in the electron distribution, which survive the inclusion of multistep excitations and the folding with a lifetime distribution function. This effect may serve as an atomic clock for deep-inelastic collisions.
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Spin polarization of electrons induced by strong collisional magnetic fields
(1981)
- We calculate the spin polarization of 1sσ vacancies and emitted δ electrons induced by the strong magnetic field (|Bmax|∼1016G) in collisions of very heavy ions (Z1+Z2=178). The electron excitations are determined by the solution of coupled-channel equations within the quasimolecular basis states including the vector potential. The formulation is extended to the many-electron case. Spin polarizations of the order of 5-10% for impact energies below the Coulomb barrier are predicted.
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Self-energy of electrons in critical fields
(1982)
- The energy shift of K electrons in heavy atoms due to the self-energy correction has been calculated. This process is treated to all orders in Zα, where Z denotes the nuclear charge. For the superheavy system Z=170, where the K-shell binding energy reaches the pair-production threshold (E1sb∼2mc2), a shift of +11.0 keV is found. This shift is almost cancelled by the vacuum polarization, leaving a negligible effect for all quantum-electrodynamical corrections of order α but all orders of Zα.
