Note on the Stability of Systems Containing a Light Positive Particle

Abstract

It is of interest to consider the dynamic stability of atomic or molecular systems which contain a positron, e.g., ${e}^{+}{\mathrm{Cl}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. This paper examines what information about this stability can be obtained without elaborate calculations, (a) from experimental data descriptive of hydrides and of the hydrogen molecule or molecular ion, and (b) from existing calculations of the energy of light polyelectrons. The procedure (a) suffices to guarantee stability only when the positron is replaced by a positive meson which has a mass of the order of twenty-electron masses or more. The second procedure allows a certain lowering of these approximate minimum mass values, in a special case to a few electron masses. The various numerical results are obtained very easily. They indicate that negative atomic ions can have a positive positron affinity.