Ionization by radiative energy transport vs. impact ionization in energetic atomic collisions

Abstract

We explore a mechanism for ionization in high-velocity (but not yet relativistic) collisions of light atomic particles, one of which being initially in an excited internal state. This mechanism is driven by the generalized Breit interaction and proceeds via radiative energy transport between the colliding particles which has an extremely long range. A comparison of this mechanism with those which are ‘standard’ for high-velocity collisions shows that it can play a noticeable role in collisions with excited target atoms.