Observation of Oscillations in the Charge Dependence of Total Electron-Capture Cross Sections

Abstract
An oscillatory dependence on ionic charge of total electron-capture cross sections has been observed for multiply charged heavy projectiles incident on an atomic hydrogen target. The oscillatory behavior is attributed to interference caused by the long-range Coulomb and a short-range (screened Coulomb) force acting on the captured electron. The oscillations are superimposed on a monotonically increasing variation with ionic charge. This monotonic increase is also found for lighter ions.