Interaction of an alkaline-earth atom with an electron: scattering, negative ion and photodetachment

Abstract
Three mutually related problems concerning the interaction of an electron with an alkaline-earth atom are examined. (i) The scattering problem: the phaseshifts for p-electron scattering by Ca, Sr and Ba are calculated. (ii) The negative ion problem: the wavefunction and the binding energy are obtained for the outer electron in Ca- 4s24p, Sr- 5s25p and Ba- 6s26p ions. (iii) The photodetachment problem: the photodetachment cross sections are calculated for the outer electron in each of these ions. The most intriguing feature of these problems is the strong correlational potential, attracting the electron to the atom due to the large dipole polarizabilities of Ca, Sr and Ba. The calculations are performed by means of the Dyson equation of the many-body theory.

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