Three-body dynamics in single ionization of atomic hydrogen by 75 keV proton impact

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Jul 31;103(5):053201. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.053201. Epub 2009 Jul 31.

Abstract

Doubly differential cross sections for single ionization of atomic hydrogen by 75 keV proton impact have been measured and calculated as a function of the projectile scattering angle and energy loss. This pure three-body collision system represents a fundamental test case for the study of the reaction dynamics in few-body systems. A comparison between theory and experiment reveals that three-body dynamics is important at all scattering angles and that an accurate description of the role of the projectile-target-nucleus interaction remains a major challenge to theory.