Vibrational Excitation Cross-Section by Positron Impact: A Wave-Packet Dynamics Study

Abstract

The vibrational excitation cross-section of a diatomic molecule by positron impact is obtained using wave-packet propagation techniques. The dynamics study was carried on a two-dimensional potential energy surface, which couples a hydrogenlike harmonic oscillator to a positron via a spherically symmetric correlation polarization potential. The cross-section for the excitation of the first vibrational mode is in good agreement with previous reports. Our model suggests that a positron couples to the target vibration by responding instantly to an interaction potential, which depends on the target vibrational coordinate.