Theory of atomic collisions

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

Hyperspherical methods are applied to the 1)interaction of atoms in clusters and Bose condensates, and 2) the interaction of electrons and positrons with matter. In 1) three body effects are treated using a combination of multi-channel quantum defect theory (MCQDT) and the adiabatic, hyperspherical representation. The method incorporates Feshbach resonances in a natural way and enables a realistic analysis of the effect of the resonances on three-body recombination. In 2) the hyperspherical hidden crossing method, again coupled with MCQDT is used to examine positron-atom interactions.