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Variational approach to the scattering of charged particles by a many-electron system

V. U. Nazarov·S. Nishigaki·J. M. Pitarke·C. S. Kim
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Abstract

We report a variational approach to the nonlinearly screened interaction of charged particles with a many-electron system. This approach has been developed by introducing a modification of the Schwinger variational principle of scattering theory, which allows to obtain nonperturbative scattering cross-sections of moving projectiles from the knowledge of the linear and quadratic density-response functions of the target. Our theory is illustrated with a calculation of the energy loss per unit path length of slow antiprotons moving in a uniform electron gas, which shows good agreement with a fully nonlinear self-consistent Hartree calculation. Since available self-consistent calculations are restricted to low heavy-projectile velocities, we expect our theory to have novel applications to a variety of processes where nonlinear screening plays an important role.

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V. U. Nazarov, S. Nishigaki, J. M. Pitarke, C. S. Kim. 2005-01-28. Variational approach to the scattering of charged particles by a many-electron system. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.71.113105

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