Spin polarization of electrons induced by strong collisional magnetic fields

Abstract

We calculate the spin polarization of $1s\ensuremath{\sigma}$ vacancies and emitted $\ensuremath{\delta}$ electrons induced by the strong magnetic field ($|{B}_{max}|\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{16}$G) in collisions of very heavy ions (${Z}_{1}+{Z}_{2}=178$). The electron excitations are determined by the solution of coupled-channel equations within the quasimolecular basis states including the vector potential. The formulation is extended to the many-electron case. Spin polarizations of the order of 5-10% for impact energies below the Coulomb barrier are predicted.