Single ionization of helium by 40–3000-keV antiprotons

Abstract

Measurements of single-ionization cross sections for antiproton impact on helium atoms are reported for impact energies ranging from 40 keV to 3 MeV. It is found that the measured cross sections are in good agreement with recent theoretical estimates based on the continuum-distorted-wave approximation. From a comparison with similar proton data, the ratio between antiproton and proton results is obtained. The energy dependence of this ratio is compared with various theoretical estimates and explained as a result of polarization and binding effects.