Hans Kleinpoppen – författare

The content of this book describes in detail the results of the present measurements of the partial and total doubly differential cross sections for the multiple-ionization of rare gas atoms by electron impact. These measurements show, beside other trends, the role of Auger transitions in the production of multiply ionized atoms in the region where the incident electron energy is sufficient to produce inner shell ionization. Other processes like Coster-Kronig transitions and shake off also contribute towards increasing the charge of the ions. The incident electron having energy of 6 keV, for example, in a collision with xenon atom can remove up to nine electrons! (*) X-ray-ion coincidence spectroscopy of the electron xenon atom collisions is also described. 

     The present measurements of doubly differential cross sections for the dissociative and non-dissociative ionization of hydrogen, sulfur dioxide and sulfur hexa fluoride molecular gases by electron impact are also described in the text of this book. The results of the measurements for sulfur dioxide molecule show how this major atmospheric pollutant can be removed from the atmosphere by electron impact dissociation of this molecule. The present results of the measurements for sulfur hexa fluoride give an insight into the dissociation properties of this molecular gas, which is being so widely used as a gaseous insulator in the electrical circuits.  

     The book also describes the present measurements of the polarization parameters of the fluorescence radiation emitted by the electron-impact-excited atoms of sodium and potassium. In these investigations the target atoms are polarized, therefore, the measurements of the polarization parameters give information about the electron atom interaction in terms of the interference, direct and exchange interaction channels.

The main goal of this book is to elucidate what kind of experiment must be performed in order to determine the full set of independent parameters which can be extracted and calculated from theory, where electrons, photons, atoms, ions, molecules, or molecular ions may serve as the interacting constituents of matter. The feasibility of such perfect'' and-or `complete'' experiments, providing the complete quantum mechanical knowledge of the process, is associated with the enormous potential of modern research techniques, both, in experiment and theory. It is even difficult to overestimate the role of theory in setting of the complete experiment, starting with the fact that an experiment can be complete only within a certain theoretical framework, and ending with the direct prescription of what, and in what conditions should be measured to make the experiment `complete''. The language of the related theory is the language of quantum mechanical amplitudes and their relative phases. This book captures the spirit of research in the direction of the complete experiment in atomic and molecular physics, considering some of the basic quantum processes: scattering, Auger decay and photo-ionization. It includes a description of the experimental methods used to realize, step by step, the complete experiment up to the level of the amplitudes and phases. The corresponding arsenal includes, beyond determining the total cross section, the observation of angle and spin resolved quantities, photon polarization and correlation parameters, measurements applying coincidence techniques, preparing initially polarized targets, and even more sophisticated methods. The `complete'' experiment is, until today, hardly to perform. Therefore, much attention is paid to the results of state-of-the-art experiments providing detailed information on the process, and their comparison to the related theoretical approaches, just to mention relativistic multi-configurational Dirac-Fock,convergent close-coupling, Breit-Pauli R-matrix, or relativistic distorted wave approaches, as well as Green''s operator methods. This book has been written in honor of Herbert Walther and his major contribution to the field but even to stimulate advanced Bachelor and Master students by demonstrating that obviously nowadays atomic and molecular scattering physics yields and gives a much exciting appreciation for further advancing the field.