Wake-bound states: Dispersive and surface effects

Abstract

The differing results of previous analyses of the binding energy for particles trapped in the wake of fast-moving ions traversing a solid are reconciled, and the values given by Day are corrected at high velocities. A form of a variational calculation of these energies which permits comparison of various dielectric functions is presented, and used to deduce a possible form for the bound-particle wave function. This wave function is used in an analysis of processes occurring as the wake emerges from the surface.