This book aims to give a comprehensive view on the present status of a tremendously fast-developing field - the quantum dynamics of fragmenting many-particle Coulomb systems. In striking contrast to the profound theo retical knowledge, achieved from extremely precise experimental results on the static atomic and molecular structure, it was only three years ago when the three-body fundamental dynamical problem of breaking up the hydro gen atom by electron impact was claimed to be solved in a mathematically consistent way. Until now, more "complicated", though still fundamental scenarios, ad dressing the complete fragmentation of the "simplest" many-electron system, the helium atom, under the action of a time-dependent external force, have withstood any consistent theoretical description. Exceptions are the most "trivial" situations where the breakup is induced by the impact of a single real photon or of a virtual photon under a perturbation caused by fast, low charged particle impact. Similarly, the dissociation of the "simplest" molecu lar systems like Ht or HD+, fragmentating in collisions with slow electrons, or the H3 molecule breaking apart into two or three" pieces" as a result of a single laser-photon excitation, establish a major challenge for state-of-the-art theoretical approaches.

Unique and comprehensive treatment Pays equal attention to experiment and theory Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Klappentext
This is the first comprehensive treatment of the interactions of atoms and molecules with charged particles, photons and laser fields. Addressing the subject from a unified viewpoint, the volume reflects our present understanding of many-particle dynamics in rearrangement and fragmentation reactions such as electron capture, target and projectile ionisation, photoabsorption and Compton scattering, collisional breakup in Coulomb systems, and dissociative ionisation. The individual chapters, each written by leading experts, give a concise picture of the advanced experimental and theoretical methods. The book also describes experimental methods such as recoil-ion momentum spectroscopy (RIMS), electron microscopy (REMI), and many-particle time-of-flight and imaging techniques. Theoretical approaches treated include the three-body Coulomb problem, R- and S-matrix as well as classical approaches, close-coupling methods, and density-functional theory.

Inhalt
1 Kinematics of Atomic and Molecular Fragmentation Reactions.- 2 Recoil-Ion Momentum Spectroscopy and Reaction Microscopes.- 3 Multiparticle Imaging of Fast Molecular Ion Beams.- 4 NeutralAtom Imaging Techniques.- 5 Collisional Breakup in Coulomb Systems.- 6 Hyperspherical R-Matrix with Semiclassical Outgoing Waves.- 7 Convergent Close-Coupling Approach to ElectronAtom Collisions.- 8 Close-Coupling Approach to MultipleAtomic Ionization.- 9 Numerical Grid Methods.- 10 S-Matrix Approach to IntenseField Processes in Many-Electron Systems.- 11 Quantum Orbits and Laser-Induced Nonsequential Double Ionization.- 12 Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory in Atomic Collisions.- 13 Electronic Collisions in Correlated Systems: From the Atomic to the Thermodynamic Limit.- 14 From Atoms to Molecules.- 15 Vector Correlations in Dissociative Photoionization of Simple Molecules Induced by Polarized Light.- 16 Relaxation Dynamics of Core Excited Molecules Probed by Auger-ElectronIon Coincidences.- 17 Laser-Induced Fragmentation of Triatomic Hydrogen.- 18 Nonsequential Multiple Ionization in Strong Laser Fields.- 19 Helium Double Ionization in Collisions with Electrons.- 20 Fast pHe Transfer Ionization Processes: A Window to Reveal the Non-s2 Contributions in the Momentum Wave Function of GroundState He.- 21 Single and Multiple Ionization in Strong Ion-Induced Fields.- 22 Coulomb-Explosion Imaging Studies of Molecular Relaxation and Rearrangement.- 23 Charged-Particle-Induced Molecular Fragmentation at Large Velocities.- 24 ElectronInteraction Effects in Ion-Induced Rearrangement and Ionization Dynamics: A Theoretical Perspective.- 25 Ionization Dynamics in Atomic Collisions.- 26 FragmentImaging Studies of Dissociative Recombination.