Theory of Electron Capture inH+-H Collisions

The theory of electron capture in ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$-H collisions at kilovolt energies is developed. A strong coupling is assumed between the electron ground states in the target and scattered atoms. The method depends on an approximation which amounts to neglecting terms of order $K^{-1\mathrm{}}$ compared to 1, where $K$ is the wave number in atomic units for the collision of the two protons. Calculations are made for lab energies from 0.6 to 50 keV and the results compare favorably with the experimental results of Lockwood and Everhart. The center-of-mass correction accounts for the damping of resonances and otherwise produces a considerable effect. The method is applied to developing a formula for the relative probability for capture into an excited state. It is estimated that this probability is small.