Abstract
This chapter deals with the reflection of very slow hydrogen atoms from a surface of liquid helium. In particular, we estimate the sticking probability of the atoms onto the surface. This sticking proceeds via the excitation of a surface wave, called a ripplon. We show that this probability must vanish at low temperatures, and that, in this limit, the reflection of the atoms on the surface is specular.
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© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Basdevant, JL., Dalibard, J. (2000). Quantum Reflection of Atoms from a Surface. In: The Quantum Mechanics Solver. Advanced Texts in Physics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04277-9_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04277-9_25
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-04279-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04277-9
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