Evidence for Quasimolecular<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>K</mml:mi></mml:math>X-Ray Emission in Heavy-Ion Collisions from the Observation of the X-Ray Directional Anisotropy

Abstract

We have observed an anisotropic angular distribution for the high-energy continuum x rays emitted in high-energy collisions of Ni ions with Ni atoms. The variation of the anisotropy with photon energy is uniquely characteristic of induced radiative transitions in quasimolecules, and hence provides strong evidence for the quasimolecular origin of these radiations.