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Ionization of Excited Atoms in Thermal Collisions

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The Atmosphere and Ionosphere

Part of the book series: Physics of Earth and Space Environments ((EARTH))

Abstract

This book is devoted to the modern theory and experimental investigations of the associative ionization (AI) reaction. The means of their further development are analyzed. Numerous applications in plasma chemistry, aeronomy, chemical physics of the upper atmosphere, and astrophysics have contributed to conducting this study. The threshold behavior of cross sections of the endothermic reaction AI is considered, and it is shown that the dependence of above-threshold energy E is a strictly linear in the quantum case, which differs substantially from the law E 3/2, resulting in a semiclassical theory. This result has a simple physical explanation because the matrix elements of scattering operator resulting from the tunneling effect are finite at E = 0. Comparison with the semiclassical theory has been made. A substantiation of the described possibility of elementary AI reaction dynamics in the diffusion approach is given. A detailed consideration of the applicability conditions of the “quantum chaos” theory for the spectrum of highly excited Rydberg molecules is carried out. A review of experimental studies of AI reaction under different conditions covering vapor cells, single effusive beams, two crossing beams, and cold matters (very briefly) is presented. The importance of accounting for specific distribution functions of atoms over a relative (colliding) velocity in AI rate constant evaluations is discussed, and a proper explanation of noticeable variations in experimental data is provided. Different types of colliding atomic/molecular pairs consisting of low-lying excited states (normal, metastable, and resonance) in inert and alkali gases are considered, and the corresponding futures of AI cross sections are analyzed. Experimental data on AI and Penning ionization processes involving the Rydberg states of hydrogen and alkali atoms are considered on the basis of a number of theoretical models. The relevance of diffusion motion of the optical electron through the Rydberg energy states toward the continuum resulting from appearance of the dynamics chaos regime in its evolution is demonstrated.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the EU FP7 IRSES Project COLIMA, No. 247475.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Department, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N. N. Bezuglov & A. N. Klyucharev

  2. Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia

    Gennady V. Golubkov

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  1. N. N. Bezuglov
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  2. Gennady V. Golubkov
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  3. A. N. Klyucharev
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Correspondence to Gennady V. Golubkov .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Faculty of Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow, 119991, Russia

    Vladimir Bychkov

  2. Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kosygina Street 4, Moscow, 117977, Russia

    Gennady Golubkov

  3. , Institute of Energy Problems of Chemical, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospekt 38, Moscow, 117829, Russia

    Anatoly Nikitin

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Bezuglov, N.N., Golubkov, G.V., Klyucharev, A.N. (2013). Ionization of Excited Atoms in Thermal Collisions. In: Bychkov, V., Golubkov, G., Nikitin, A. (eds) The Atmosphere and Ionosphere. Physics of Earth and Space Environments. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2914-8_1

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