Two-Center Thomas-Fermi Model for Adiabatic Ion-Atom Collisions

Abstract

We propose a two-center model for the description of ion-atom collisions proceeding via a quasimolecular (adiabatic) mechanism. The electronic potential of the model is given by a superposition of modified atomic Thomas-Fermi potentials, each centered about one of the colliding nuclei. Molecular correlation diagrams calculated for the NeNe system show good agreement with results from molecular-orbital Hartree-Fock calculations.