Double-atom excitation in heavy-particle collisions induced by the electron-electron interaction

We present an analytical method for rapid calculation of matrix elements for double-atom excitation induced by the electron-electron interaction. The method is applied to calculation of probabilities and cross sections for double-atom n = 2 excitation in H(1s)-H(1s) and various A(Zp-1)+(1s)-H(1s) collisions at intermediate and high projectile energies. Based on first-order perturbation theory an empirical scaling rule for the double-atom excitation cross sections is derived. The calculated cross sections are shown to be in good agreement with this scaling relation. (author)